A Little Slice of Heaven
by forensicsfan
Summary: COMPLETE - Nick's buddy backs out of a planned trip to Cozumel, Mexico at the last minute and Sara decides to take his place.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, but if they wanted to give them to me I wouldn't say no...then maybe I could get that coffee with George and Jorja.

**Author's Note:** This is a work in progress, and as often happens, it may just write itself despite my best intentions to shape its direction. So with that said, I hope you sit back and enjoy the ride.

* * *

"I can't believe that workaholic Sara Sidle actually agreed to come with me." Nick teased her as they approached the ticket counter at McCaren International Airport with their luggage in tow. 

Sara smirked at him. "Even I take vacations now and then."

Nick scoffed. "Not since I've known you." It was true. In the four and a half years that he'd known Sara, she had never willingly taken a vacation.

Sara tried to keep her expression serious even as the corners of her mouth twitched upwards. "Well, since the department instituted a use it or loose it policy for anything over six weeks vacation, I thought I'd take advantage of your offer." She smirked again. "Besides, I felt sorry for you."

Nick's eyebrows shot up and he laughed. "You felt sorry for me."

She was on the verge of smiling. "You just looked so pathetic when you said you might have to cancel your vacation if you couldn't find someone to go with you."

Nick chuckled. "And the fact that I was going to Cozumel had nothing to do with it." He knew that she was just as excited about where they were going as he was.

"That might have been a factor." She conceded with a smile. "Besides, you said everything was non-refundable and I didn't want you to be out all that money."

Nick leaned over and whispered conspiratorially as they inched up in line. "I still meant what I said. You don't have to pay me for it."

Sara shook her head. "I want to. You shouldn't have to pay for my vacation."

He smiled at her. "You really don't have to. You're doing me a favor. Either way I would have had to pay for it and this way I get to have some company." He didn't want to admit to her just how excited he was that she was coming with him. His buddy from college had backed out at the last minute because of a family emergency and when Nick had mentioned it to Sara he was surprised how quickly she had agreed to go.

Sara smiled back. "I want to pay for it."

"Ok, but if you change your mind." Nick nudged her elbow with his.

She laughed. "I'm not changing my mind."

Several hours later after a somewhat turbulent flight, a taxi ride that could rival most Indy car races and a boat ride, they arrived in Cozumel. By the time they arrived at the small hotel, both of them were hot and tired.

"Welcome to Hacienda San Miguel." The friendly desk clerk smiled widely at Nick and Sara.

"We've got reservations under Stokes for two rooms." Nick informed him.

The desk clerk looked over the reservation records and furrowed his brow as he looked up at Nick with a bit of trepidation before putting a smile on his face. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stokes, we have only one room available."

Nick looked at him incredulously. "What do you mean we only have one room?" He was certain that when he made the original reservation that he'd reserved two rooms. In fact after Sara agreed to go with him, he had double checked his reservation.

"Sorry, one room only." The desk clerk looked apologetic. "The other is being repaired because a pipe broke in the ceiling."

"And you have no other rooms?" Nick asked in a patient tone, but was frustrated all the same.

The clerk shook his head. "We are full all week. Maybe after the weekend one will open up."

Nick glanced over at Sara about to suggest that maybe they should find another hotel, but she interrupted him.

"One room is fine." She addressed the desk clerk before looking at Nick and leaning over to whisper to him. "We're adults; this shouldn't be a big deal. We'll just have them bring up a cot or something."

Nick looked at her skeptically. "You're sure."

She nodded. "Look, I'm tired and hot and I just want to take a nap. At this point, I'd sleep in a bathtub."

The clerk smiled as he handed Nick the room key. "See, it's all ok."

Nick wasn't completely convinced that everything would be ok sharing a room with Sara. Part of the charm of this hotel was the fact that it was small and historic and he wasn't sure exactly how big the rooms were. Besides, she was a very beautiful woman and he wasn't sure that spending a week and a half with her alone without having separate hotel rooms was going to bode well for their friendship.

As if reading the doubt in Nick's mind, Sara put her hand on his arm and smiled. "It'll be fine."

The room was small, a bit too small to bring a cot in and there was only one bed.

Sara began to think that perhaps agreeing to share a room without actually seeing the room first wasn't the wisest thing she'd ever done. She'd always found Nick attractive and being with him in such close quarters was certain to complicate things. So she did the only thing she could think of. She crawled onto the bed and smiled. "I'm going to take a nap."

Nick looked at her a bit hesitantly. He was dead tired, neither of them had gotten sleep after the last shift they'd worked, but he wasn't about to crawl onto the bed next to her without an invitation.

Sara seemed to read his mind. "Nick, I won't bite." She gestured to the spot on the bed next to her. "Look if it bothers you that much, we can figure something out later, but right now I know that you're probably even more tired than I am."

Nick let out a resigned sigh, rubbing the back of his neck as he reasoned that they were putting themselves in hot water before he crawled onto the bed next to her. As he settled himself in, he glanced over at Sara. "And for the record, I hear you _do_ bite." He smirked.

Sara's brows shot up and she let out a scoff. "Who told you that?!"

Nick chuckled. "Relax, Sara, I'm just talking about Greg's finger."

Sara rolled her eyes. "What did he expect? He shoved the damn thing in my face and scared the crap out of me."

"And he's been whining about it ever since." Nick teased as he fluffed a pillow to put under his head.

Sara rolled onto her side to face Nick as a thought occurred to her. "How come you didn't invite Greg to come with you?"

Nick quirked an eyebrow at her. "I didn't want to end up in a Mexican jail for killing him."

"I'm sure he wouldn't have been that bad." Sara had been spending a considerable amount of time with Greg of late since she'd been working cases with him and she'd found that the more she got to know him, the more she liked about him.

Nick snorted. "No offense, Sara, but if I spent my vacation with Greg, he'd try and perpetuate a reputation about me that doesn't exist any more."

Sara looked at him with a mixture of amusement and admiration that he cared about what people thought of his ladies man reputation of the past.

Nick misread her expression for doubt so he continued his explanation. "Seriously. I may have been that guy once, but not any more. I'm the dork that's more likely to stay at home on Friday night or going bowling with my friends than to hit some pick-up club to find a date."

Sara smiled at him. "I believe you." Her smile turned into a smirk as she closed her eyes. "Now shut up so we can take a nap."

Nick let out a chuckle as he closed his own eyes. "Yes ma'am."


	2. Chapter 2

Sara was so relaxed that as she began to wake up, she almost forgot where she was. So when she felt an arm around her waist, her eyes snapped open and she felt her heart begin to race. As she glanced around the room, she remembered that she was in Cozumel, Mexico with Nick and she'd been dumb enough to tell him they could share a bed. A tiny smile began to pull at her lips as she realized while they'd slept, he'd managed to spoon up behind her and he had his arm slung across her waist. This was definitely going to complicate things.

She glanced over to the window and realized that light was streaming in and that they'd slept far longer than they had planned to. Rather than sleep for a couple of hours, it seemed they'd slept the entire night. Sara let out a yawn and delicately extricated herself from under Nick's arm and slipped off of the bed. She decided that she was going to take this opportunity to take a quick shower and change so that when he woke up they could get going for the day.

She found it interesting that almost as soon as she had left the bed, Nick had reached for a pillow and pulled it close as he rolled onto his stomach; a sleepy smile on his face. She was tempted to just stand there and watch him sleep for a while, but decided that the last thing she needed to do was fixate on him when they still had nine more nights to share that bed unless another room opened up.

She quietly opened her suitcase and pulled out a few things before disappearing into the bathroom to shower. The warm cascading water felt so good on her travel worn muscles that Sara considered staying in there until the water went cold. However, she really didn't think that Nick would appreciate having no hot water; so she allowed herself only a few extra minutes under the spray before turning the water off and stepping out to towel herself off and get dressed.

Nick was still sleeping when she emerged from the bathroom and she decided to just go ahead and dry her hair; not counting on the hairdryer having a mind of it's own as it slipped to the floor with a clunk.

Nick hadn't realized exactly how tired he had been until the sound of something hitting the floor startled him awake.

An apologetic looking Sara glanced over at him from where she crouched on the floor near her suitcase, hair dryer in hand, and whispered. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up." She had obviously showered and changed and her naturally curly hair was damp.

Nick smiled at her. "It's ok." He let out a yawn and then looked at Sara quizzically as she stood up. "Are you going to dry your hair?"

"Yeah." Sara looked at him a bit oddly. "It's the only way I can straighten it."

Whether it was his sleep-clouded brain or just the fact that they were on vacation together, Nick spoke before he fully engaged his brain. "I think it's pretty when it's curly like that." He hugged the pillow a little tighter and smiled at her.

A surprised smile flitted across Sara's face. "Thanks." She wasn't used to getting compliments, but Nick had a habit of handing them out. She sounded a bit flustered as she gestured toward the bathroom. "I don't have to dry my hair right now if you want to take a shower." Her intention had been to finish getting ready before Nick woke up so that he could take his time.

Nick smirked at her. "Are you trying to tell me something?" He rolled onto his side and looked at her more fully, suddenly very aware of the fact that she was wearing shorts and he couldn't remember ever seeing that much of her legs before, at least not outside of his dreams.

Sara smirked back, not completely unaware that Nick seemed to be staring at her. "I'm telling you that I'm hungry and I thought maybe we could go out and get some breakfast."

Nick furrowed his brow. "Breakfast? Just how long were we sleeping?" In his mind they had planned on taking a quick nap before grabbing something for dinner.

Sara pointed out the window of their small hotel room. "Longer than we'd planned."

Nick glanced out the window and realized that daylight was pouring in. He turned back towards Sara and smiled. "Good morning."

An amused smile pulled at Sara's lips. "Good morning."

"So what did you want to eat?" Nick asked, wanting to lounge on the bed a little longer.

"What are my choices?" Sara smirked at him taking note that a sleep rumpled Nick Stokes was pretty damn attractive.

"Maybe one of those cafés near the bigger hotels." Nick chuckled softly and sat up, rubbing at the stubble that graced his chin. An odd expression crossed his face and he shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Sara had a curious expression on her face as she stowed her hairdryer back into her suitcase, deciding to just let her hair stay in its naturally curly state.

Nick smirked. "I forgot my razor."

Sara tried to restrain a smile. "I think you look good with a little facial hair." It was true. She'd always seen him clean shaven, but this slight scruffy look did something to his appearance that made her think he looked sexier than normal.

Now it was Nick's turn to look a little surprised. "Thanks." He didn't want to think too much of it and he quickly opened his suitcase and pulled out a few things before disappearing into the bathroom to take a shower. By the time he emerged from the bathroom freshly showered and dressed, Sara was lounging on the bed looking over a magazine that had some of the local attractions in it.

She glanced up at him and felt a strange sensation that she almost thought was her stomach doing a little flip. She smiled and quickly tried to squelch the feeling. "Hey, I was reading in here about some Mayan ruins we should check out. San Gervasio isn't that far from here and it sounds pretty interesting."

"Ok." Nick just smiled at her, trying not to stare at her legs.

"Ready?" Sara put the magazine down and stood up, smiling again as she realized that Nick was wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

"Yeah." Nick nodded.

They made their way out of the historic stucco hotel and made a leisurely stroll down the street towards the shops and cafés that they had passed on the way to the hotel. They stopped in a cozy café for breakfast, slowly sipping coffee as they waited for the omelets they'd ordered.

"So did you sleep ok?" Nick queried her, hoping in the back of his mind that he hadn't done anything in his sleep to make her uncomfortable. He had a vague recollection that he'd been snuggled up against something warm at some point while he was sleeping and when he'd woken up with the pillow in his arms, he didn't think that it could have provided as much warmth as he'd felt.

"Yeah." Sara nodded, trying to suppress a smile as she remembered Nick's arm around her waist. If they were going to be adults about this, she couldn't let him know how it made her feel. "How did you sleep?"

"Good." He grinned as he took a sip of his coffee. "I think we both must have been a lot more tired than we thought. I don't think I've slept that good in a long time."

"Me either." Sara felt the corners of her mouth tugging upwards.

"So what did the article say about San Gervasio?" Nick took another sip of his coffee.

"Apparently it was some temple to their fertility goddess. Mayan women used to make pilgrimages there when they were trying to get pregnant." Sara chuckled in amusement at the idea.

Nick's eyes widened slightly and it was all he could do not to choke on his coffee. Even so, his voice had a hint of a waver in it as he set he coffee cup down. "Oh."

Sara smirked at him. "It also has the most Mayan ruins left of any of the sites on the island. I thought it would be really interesting."

Nick nodded, trying to get his mind off of the fertility thing. The last thing he needed to be thinking about while they were sharing a bed was Sara and sex in the same sentence.


	3. Chapter 3

The drive out to San Gervasio wasn't long, but it was a bit wild because their taxi driver Juan Carlos kept up a constant stream of friendly questions, not paying much attention to the road. He seemed more intent on paying attention to Sara and even offered to not only wait for them until they'd toured the ruins, he informed that he sometimes hired out as a tour guide and would give them a two for one special.

Nick considered it briefly, that is before Sara interrupted him. "Uh, no, that's ok. We're not really sure how long we're going to be and I think we just want to explore."

Nick quirked an eyebrow at her.

"I can wait all day." Juan Carlos smiled broadly at her. It was obvious that he was in no hurry to leave her and Nick alone.

"Juan." Nick began.

"Ah, my mother would cringe if you did not use my whole name." He smiled at Nick and wondered how crazy this American was that he hadn't snatched Sara up. He had asked them some very direct questions when they'd gotten into the taxi and he'd quickly found out that Nick and Sara weren't married and they weren't dating either. He saw it as a perfect opportunity to try and secure a date with Sara.

Nick tried to hold back a smirk.

Sara looked over at Nick and widened her eyes at him in a meaningful stare that indicated she'd appreciate it if he would do something to intervene.

Nick almost chuckled. "Uh, Juan Carlos."

The friendly taxi driver interrupted. "I have an idea. I give you a quick tour of the most important sites and then I come back to the taxi and wait for you." He lowered his voice conspiratorially, deciding he was going to give this crazy American guy one more chance. "Then you and the lovely lady can be alone and you can make your move."

Sara's face turned a lovely shade of pink at the not so subtle hint.

"It's a deal." Nick chuckled softly and then glanced over at Sara, noting the color in her cheeks. He offered her a soft smile and reached over and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

She couldn't help but smile.

"Ah." Juan Carlos noticed the exchange and grinned. "See I tell you that you two are perfect for each other. Too bad for me, seńorita, you are a very beautiful woman. Nick here, he's going to win your heart."

At that moment, Sara wouldn't have minded if the ground had swallowed them up.

Fortunately, they had arrived at San Gervasio and Juan Carlos became just as talkative about the history of the ruins as he had been about quizzing Nick and Sara about their lives. And true to his word, he pointed out some of the highlights, explaining the history and perhaps embellishing a bit too much before heading back to his taxi to wait for them.

As they strolled around the temple ruins, Sara glanced over at Nick and smiled. "He is quite a character isn't he?"

Nick laughed, instinctively putting his arm around her shoulders for a moment in a friendly gesture. "I'm sure if you gave him the word, you could be married by the end of the day."

Sara stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest and did her best to glare at him, even though she could feel from the warmth infusing her cheeks that she was blushing.

Nick tried to stifle his grin as he turned to look at her, raising his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry. I'll stop teasing you."

Sara rolled her eyes, knowing full well that Nick couldn't stop teasing her any more than he could stop breathing.

He smirked. "About that." He put a hand on her shoulder and propelled her forward through the lush jungle vegetation to inspect some more of the ruins. "I'll lay off about Juan Carlos."

Sara furrowed her brow for a moment as they walked and then glanced over at Nick. "Maybe I shouldn't have worn shorts. In some cultures it makes them think I'm a loose woman."

Nick shook his head. "He was probably mesmerized by your beauty." He glanced at her legs a little longer than necessary, raising his eyebrow a little suggestively. "And the fact that you have sexy legs that go on forever probably didn't help."

Sara slammed her fist into Nick's gut and walked a little faster. "So I shouldn't have worn shorts." She didn't want him to see any more of the color infusing her cheeks at the thought that he found her legs sexy. As if things weren't complicated enough sharing a bed.

Nick stood there for a moment, his hands resting on his hips as he let out a frustrated sigh. He shook his head and then started after her, calling out softly. "Sara."

She didn't turn around, she just kept on walking purposefully towards a small Mayan pyramid.

"Sara." He was almost next to her now, having had to jog to catch up. "I'm sorry."

She stopped and narrowed her gaze at him. There wasn't really anger in her eyes, just a little bit of hurt. "It was hot outside. I didn't think that I was going to get hit on by wearing shorts. I probably should have worn a skirt instead."

"Hey." Nick rested his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry that Juan Carlos kept hitting on you and I'm sorry that I'm not helping."

Sara didn't say anything.

He smiled genuinely. "I didn't mean for that comment to sound the way it did. I mean, I really do think you have sexy legs. " He smiled a little wider as he saw the corners of her mouth twitch upwards. "I just didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

Sara's cheeks were definitely pink, but she looked him in the eye and smiled. "Thanks."

Nick looked at her intently for a moment. "Are we ok?" One of his eyebrows lifted inquisitively.

She nodded. "Yeah, we're ok." She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry I punched you in the gut."

Nick chuckled. "That? You barely touched me." He winked at her and pulled her into a hug and for a moment considered that maybe he should take Juan Carlos' advice and make a move.

Sara couldn't help but smile as Nick held onto her a moment longer than he really needed to. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if this vacation might be the start of something different between she and Nick, something that might push them across that fine line that separated friendship from romance.


	4. Chapter 4

After spending considerable time exploring the rest of the ruins at San Gervasio, Nick and Sara headed back to where Juan Carlos had left the taxi. As they approached, they noticed that he was in the midst of an animated conversation with another man who appeared to be a tourist. Juan Carlos glanced up and upon seeing Nick and Sara he broke into a wide grin. "Ah, see, there they are now." He gestured toward them as if that would answer all of the questions the man had.

Nick quirked an eyebrow at Sara and then forced a smile at Juan Carlos. "Hey, man, what's up"

Juan Carlos continued smiling and gestured to the man standing next to him. "I was just telling Mr. Ned here that the taxi was spoken for."

It was then that Nick and Sara noticed the scowl of frustration on the other man's face. Nick extended his hand in greeting. "I'm Nick Stokes and this is Sara Sidle." He gestured toward Sara as he shook the man's hand.

"Ned Augustine." He gestured toward Juan Carlos and the taxi. "I made the mistake of renting a moped to come out here, only it was stolen and I'm stuck."

"You staying in town" Nick quizzed him formulating an idea in his mind.

"Yeah, at the Plaza Las Glorias." Ned let out a frustrated sigh. "As you can see, Juan Carlos is the only taxi here at the moment."

"And I'm employed by Nick and Sara." Juan Carlos gave Sara an extra long look, paying special attention to her legs as he wondered if Nick had made his move.

Sara stepped a little closer to Nick, a move that made the corners of his mouth curl upwards as he snaked an arm around her waist in a protective gesture. Feeling a bit more secure, Sara smiled at Ned. "You could just share the taxi with us, I'm sure there's enough room."

"Yeah, Sara's right. There's just the two of us." Nick agreed, trying not to let his smile widen as he felt Sara lean a little closer to him. He had to admit that he could get used to this.

Relief washed over Ned. "Thanks. That would be great."

Juan Carlos beamed. "See, problem solved. Everyone is happy." He directed a meaningful stare at Nick and then winked as he whispered too loudly. "I see you took my advice."

This time, Nick was the one who had color infusing his cheeks. He wasn't going to correct Juan Carlos because he might start hitting on Sara again, but he also didn't want to do anything to make her feel uncomfortable. At the moment he felt as if he was between a rock and a hard place and anything he might say could backfire.

Ned seemed oblivious to the situation as he climbed into the front seat of the taxi, leaving the backseat for Nick and Sara.

Sara pursed her lips together to keep from smiling and as Juan Carlos looked at Nick expectantly for him to either confirm or deny his assumption. Sara decided to just take matters into her own hands. She leaned over and planted a kiss on Nick's cheek and then climbed into the taxi, calling out after him. "Coming, baby"

Nick just smiled at Juan Carlos and climbed in after Sara. "Yes, honey."

A flicker of disappointment registered on Juan Carlos' face, but he quickly replaced it with his perma-smile and decided that all this crazy American had needed was a little push. Maybe tomorrow he'd meet another lovely American woman to try and woo; or perhaps an Italian, those Italian women were exceptionally beautiful.

Ned glanced back at Nick and Sara and smiled. "Thanks again for letting me hop a ride with you. How are long are you in Cozumel for"

"Ten days. We just got here yesterday." Nick answered, taking advantage of the charade Sara had decided to play by taking her hand in his. He smiled when she laced her fingers with his and then rested her head against his shoulder.

"Where are you staying" Ned continued; wincing as Juan Carlos barely missed a pedestrian as they pulled out onto the roadway.

"Hacienda San Miguel." Nick answered.

"Ah, a fine choice." Juan Carlos answered. "Very romantic." He looked at Nick and Sara in the rearview mirror and grinned.

Ned furrowed his brow. "That's not down by the beach is it" Ned looked very much the part of the tourist who preferred the tour busses and package deals. His foray on the moped only underscored that he probably wasn't going to venture out by himself like that again in the near future.

Nick shook his head. "No, it's a bit further inland."

Juan Carlos interjected as he swerved to avoid a pothole. "Small and historical with a lovely courtyard." He almost sounded like a travel brochure.

"It's nice." Sara smiled as she watched Ned's eyes widen at the way Juan Carlos was maneuvering the vehicle on the two-lane roadway.

"You here by yourself, Ned" Nick queried him, trying to keep his smile to a minimum as he felt Sara pull their linked hands into her lap.

"Yeah." He looked disappointed as he furrowed his brow. "This was supposed to be my honeymoon, but my fiancée decided that she preferred our SCUBA instructor to me. The trip was already paid for so I said 'what the hell'." He let out a resigned chuckle.

Nick winced. "Hey, sorry man."

"It's ok. I guess I should just be glad it happened before we got married." Ned put on a good-natured smile. "Besides, I sort of like Cozumel, even if Gina was supposed to be here with me."

Sara felt badly for Ned. "You know Nick and I haven't made any firm plans for what we're doing this week. Maybe you can join us for dinner or something."

Ned looked grateful, but a bit skeptical. "I wouldn't want to impose on your romantic vacation."

"No imposition." Nick insisted with a smile.

"We insist." Sara echoed. She had been sitting there fairly silent as Juan Carlos drove thinking about the fact that she was snuggled up next to Nick holding his hand and enjoying every minute of it. She only wished that she was in the position because he wanted to be with her, not because she was trying to throw Juan Carlos off the scent.

Ned smiled genuinely. "That would be really nice. I'll leave you the number at my hotel and I'll let you two decide when you want some company."

Juan Carlos couldn't help but interject again. "You must try my brother's restaurant. El Moro has wonderful local food and you must try the lime soup. I'll pick you all up later and you'll be my guests." He smiled widely at his captive audience.

"We don't want to put you out, Juan Carlos." Nick began, glancing at Sara and wondering just how much more of this guy she was going to be able to handle.

"I insist." He smiled. "Best food in town. My treat, because you're a smart man." He winked in the rearview mirror at Nick.

Ned shrugged his shoulders. "I'm free if you are."

Juan Carlos spoke in a conspiratorial tone to Ned. "Nick here just needed a little push to win Sara's heart." He looked back at Sara over his shoulder. "Isn't that right, Sara"

With Ned looking at her and Juan Carlos not paying any attention to the road, Sara smiled as she felt Nick squeeze her hand in support. She glanced up at him with a smile and then answered Juan Carlos without missing a beat. "Nick's a keeper."

Nick felt a rush of longing that he wished that Sara really was speaking the truth and he wondered how she would feel if she knew that his feelings towards her had been edging closer to romance over the last few months. He also wondered if it was wise to reveal that information when they still had nine days left in Cozumel and only one bed in their hotel room.


	5. Chapter 5

Sara breathed out a sigh of relief as Juan Carlos sped away from where he'd dropped them at their hotel with Ned gripping the dashboard as the taxi careened around a corner. She smirked at Nick. "That poor guy."

"Yeah, can you imagine getting dumped by your fiancée for your SCUBA instructor?" Nick just shook his head in disbelief as he considered how Ned must feel.

Sara chuckled softly. "Yeah, there is that, but I was talking about getting stuck in the taxi with Juan Carlos."

Nick laughed and casually slung his arm over her shoulder as they walked across the courtyard to the stairwell that led to their room. "You're just full of compassion." His tone was decidedly sarcastic.

She didn't miss a beat. "I'm just practical. From the sound of it, she wasn't a real winner anyway if she dumped him right before they were supposed to get married."

As they reached the stairs, Nick dropped hishand to the small of her back and let her walk ahead of him up the stairs. "Well there's two sides to every story."

Sara stopped in front of the door and smirked. "And you don't like Ned."

"I didn't say that." Nick protested as he quirked an eyebrow at her. "Ned seems nice enough."

What he didn't want to say was that he hoped that they weren't going to spend everyday of their vacation with Ned. If they did that, they just might have to keep acting like a couple in case they ran into Juan Carlos again and he wasn't sure his hormones were going to be able to stay in check very much longer.

Sara unlocked the door to their hotel room. "But you don't like him."

Sara thought it might be a good idea if they spent a little time with Ned. It might mean that they would have to keep playing this little charade they'd started a bit longer, but maybe in the end it might give her some courage to let Nick know how she was feeling.

Nick chuckled and shook his head. "I don't hate Ned, Sara." He smiled at her and decided to take a little step out towards the point of no return to see what kind of reaction he might get. "I just don't want to spend the entire trip with a stranger that's all. I was kind of looking forward to hanging out with you."

Sara felt something akin to a flip in her stomach and tried in vain to keep the edges of her mouth from curving upwards.

Nick's smile seemed to get a little bigger. "We have a few hours before hurricane Juan Carlos comes back to take us to his brother's restaurant. Why don't we go out for a walk and see what's here?"

Sara laughed at the reference to their cab driver. "That sounds good." She glanced down at her attire and then back at Nick, clearing her throat. "I think I'm going to change my clothes though. I'm not sure how many more times I want to get hit on today."

Nick wisely kept the comments that were flying through his mind to himself about how he'd like to be the one hitting on her and reclined on the bed, lacing his fingers behind his head and closing his eyes. "You just let me know when you're ready."

Sara snorted. "I'm only changing into a skirt, Nick."

Nick opened one eye at her and noticed that she had her skirt in hand and she was smirking at him. He smiled and opened the other eye. "I'll still be here."

"Don't get too comfortable." Sara rolled her eyes and headed into the bathroom to change. True to her word, she was out in under a minute.

Nick had indeed made himself comfortable and he tried to pretend he was asleep although the smile on his face was a dead giveaway.

Sara pursed her lips together and crossed her arms over her chest. "Nick."

He didn't move, but his mouth twitched ever so slightly.

"Nick." Sara stepped towards the bed and put on a stern expression.

Nick tried to relax his face, but his smile was having none of that.

"Nick, get up." Sara was standing right next to the bed now and she wasn't sure if she was amused or annoyed with him.

Nick still didn't move.

"Nick." There was a distinct hint of a whine in Sara's voice as she leaned over him. She did not come on vacation to Mexico to watch Nick pretend to sleep. There were places to go and things to see and she wanted to get back out there.

A smile flashed across Nick's face a fraction of a second before he started to tickle Sara.

She let out a yelp and tried to grab for his hands without much success. She only succeeded in falling off balance onto the bed next to Nick where he continued tickling her.

Nick was grinning ear to ear as he watched Sara dissolve into a fit of giggles next to him as his assault continued.

"Nick, stop" Sara squirmed as she tried to move away from his hands, still giggling. "Please." Giggle. "Don't." Giggle. "Stop."

"Please don't stop?" Nick teased as he renewed his attack.

"Nick." Sara whined and grabbed for his hands several more times, finally getting a hold of them.

He just lay there looking guilty as hell.

She smirked at him as she tried to catch her breath. "Now, did you want to go for a walk or were you just trying to get me into bed?" She didn't realize until after the words were out exactly how that sounded. Her cheeks immediately turned pink as Nick grinned at her.

Sara sat up and cleared her throat, smoothing out her skirt. "Ok, right. Uh, so let's go then." She didn't really look at Nick, hoping that he didn't see her blush.

Nick sat up next to her with a grin still adorning his face. He let out a soft chuckle. "You're cute when you're embarrassed." He leaned over and planted a peck on her cheek before standing up.

A flustered Sara Sidle stood up, grabbed her purse and moved towards the door as she began to ramble. "So I was thinking, there are a lot of shops closer to the bigger hotels and I promised a few people that I'd bring them back something. And then I thought I could find a few things for my apartment or maybe some vanilla, I hear that Mexican vanilla is really great to bake with and I have this chocolate chip cookie recipe that I think I want to try it in. Or we could just see what's there and come back and shop another day, if you want."

They descended the steps and traversed the courtyard, coming to the street in front of their hotel. Nick took her hand as they moved to cross the street, smiling at how she was rambling nervously and thinking to himself that he was definitely going to make a move, it was just a matter of when.

"Or we could just stop and get something for lunch and sit on the beach, not that either one of us is dressed for the beach, but it might be nice to just sit and relax." She was so focused on trying to get her cheeks back to their normal color that she didn't really notice that Nick was still holding her hand after they'd crossed the street.


	6. Chapter 6

It wasn't until they were strolling across Parque Benito Juarez that Sara realized that Nick was still holding her hand. A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth and she had finally stopped rambling. Her thoughts drifted back to just a short time earlier with Nick tickling her on the bed in their hotel room and the thoughts that had gone through her mind that had propelled her off of the bed. She did not want her mind drifting into dangerous territory when it was clear that they were friends and nothing more. Flirting aside, she needed to keep a clear head, especially since she had been the one to give Juan Carlos the impression that she and Nick were together.

Nick noticed her lapse into silence as they walked and he stole a glance at her, feeling his smile broaden as he noticed her smile. Things were definitely looking favorable at the moment, but given her quick departure from the bed, he was going to have to go very slow or he was going to scare her away, especially since they were still at the beginning of their vacation. As it was, he wondered if tickling her like that had been a little too much.

They neared the far side of the plaza, which was lined with hotels, shops and restaurants before Nick said anything. "You're pretty quiet."

Sara cast him a sidelong glance and smirked. "You mean as opposed to the whole way here."

Nick couldn't help but chuckle at her admission. "Well, I don't think that I would have ever learned that you prefer 'petal pink' polish to 'shimmering rose' on your toes otherwise."

Sara tried to swallow an embarrassed smile and pulled her hand out of Nick's grip, taking a tiny step away from him to get her bearings. "I told you that?" Clearly her mind had been elsewhere while her mouth had been left to ramble freely. She only hoped that she hadn't blurted out what she'd been thinking back in the hotel room.

Nick nodded and thought at that moment she looked utterly adorable the way that her curls framed her face and the fact that she was wearing a skirt that let him see enough of her legs for his mind to be dangerous just added to it. "Yeah, you did."

Sara let out a soft groan and rested her forehead in the palm of her hand, glancing at Nick out of the corner of her eye. "Can we just forget everything that I said?" If she had ever felt awkward around Nick, this would be the moment. She had no idea what she had told him other than a vague recollection of bits and pieces.

Nick considered that for a moment, feigning a serious expression as he shook his head. "Unfortunately, I think the entire monologue is indelibly burned into my memory." There were at least a few of the things that she said that he decided he was going to put to use at just the right moment to surprise her.

Sara felt her cheeks flush slightly and she crossed her arms over her chest and tried to keep from smiling.

"I mean, it might come in handy someday while we're working a crime scene that you really like extra cheese on your veggie soft tacos, hold the guacamole, especially if I need to make a food run." His eyes were dancing in amusement.

Sara laughed nervously and stepped towards him, threading her arm through his as they began walking again. "Let's go get something to eat, ok?"

"Sure." He grinned widely as he chuckled. "What do you want? Tacos, tacos, or tacos?"

Sara rolled her eyes and giggled at his impishness and then smiled thoughtfully as she propelled them towards the malecón. "Tacos on the boardwalk."

They bought fish tacos from vendor near the beach and settled themselves on one of the many benches that dotted the boardwalk watching a pair of parasailers being towed by a speedboat out on the water.

"These are really good." Nick mumbled with his mouth partially full of food as he held up his taco.

Sara shook her head and smirked at him. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"Plenty. I like to save them for special occasions." He winked at her and took another bite.

Sara laughed and finished off her taco, leaning back into the bench, just enjoying the scenery and Nick's company. She was glad that he had invited her on this trip because she really couldn't remember the last time she'd taken a real vacation. Nick's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"So I hear that on Sundays they have live music and dancing in the plaza." He gestured back in the direction that they had come from and then took the last bite of his second taco.

Sara felt her stomach flip for a moment as a smile crept over her face. "Are you suggesting that we go?" The idea of dancing with Nick Stokes was very appealing, even if Sunday was still days away.

"Yeah, what do you think?" He looked at her with anticipation, hoping that she'd go for the idea. Dancing was a legitimate way he could hold her close without her catching on that he'd like to push things a little further between them, at least until he determined whether she might feel the same way.

"It sounds fun." She couldn't restrain her smile.

Nick found that he couldn't resist touching her just then, reaching over to rest his hand on her shoulder and caressing it with his thumb. "What do you say we do a little shopping before we go back and wait for hurricane Juan Carlos?"

"Ok." Her smiled widened into a gap-toothed grin.

Nick stood up and then grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

Sara felt her cheeks warming again as she realized he was making no move to let go of it after she had stood up. She decided to just cut to the chase even as a flock of butterflies decided to take up residence in her stomach. "This is getting to be a habit with you." She hoped the tone of her voice sounded lighter than if felt in her own ears.

Nick just grinned at her and winked as he pulled her along with him towards the plaza. "Can I help it if I like holding hands with such a beautiful woman?"


	7. Chapter 7

They had gone about three or four blocks down the boardwalk in relative silence before Sara decided that she needed to say something. She was really unclear about what seemed to be going on between them and she knew that even though they'd put an act on around Juan Carlos to get him to stop hitting on her, there was no one around right now and Nick still wanted to hold her hand. It was opening an entire floodgate of emotions in Sara that she wasn't sure she wanted to deal with and she kept thinking about the fact that once they had gone to dinner and ended their day, they were going to have to share a bed. A fact that she was becoming less and less comfortable with by the moment since all she seemed to be able to concentrate on was the feel of Nick's palm against hers.

She halted her steps and looked at a startled Nick with a bit of trepidation. "Nick?"

His brows curved upward in an unsure expression as he took in her demeanor. "Yeah?" He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and as he did, Sara furrowed her brow and nibbled at her lower lip. Immediately he knew that he'd pushed her too far.

Sara really wasn't sure what she was going to say, but she knew that she needed to say something as she pulled her hand out of his, taking note of the slightly disappointed expression on Nick's face. "I...uh...well, it's just...I'm." She really didn't seem to be able to form the words that kept circling her mind.

Nick tilted his head slightly and a tiny smile tugged at his mouth. "I need to back off a little, don't I?" He reasoned that he would just throw it out there and see where things went.

Sara looked confused and she sat down on a nearby bench.

Nick felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and sat down next to her. "I just thought that guys wouldn't hit on you if it looked like we were together. You just seemed really bothered by how Juan Carlos was acting towards you earlier."

Sara felt disappointment at the idea that he had only held her hand to ward off other men, and that he hadn't done it because he might actually find her attractive. "Oh."

Nick could tell that he wasn't really communicating very well and decided that maybe he had just better lay some of his cards out on the table. "Look, Sara, you're a very beautiful woman and I guess when Juan Carlos was hitting on you, I felt kind of jealous." He was rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous gesture.

Sara looked at him for a long moment a bit skeptically before a hint of a smile began to appear on her face. "You were jealous?"

He chuckled nervously. "Yeah."

Sara didn't want to jump to conclusions, so instead she decided to get a little more clarification. "Can I ask why?" She was unconsciously nibbling at her lower lip.

The fact that she had to ask him that question made him smile, even as he felt a bundle of nerves dancing in his stomach. "Sara, you're one of my best friends, but I'm not sure that's enough for me anymore." He studied her to see her reaction.

Sara felt as if her heart had stopped in her chest momentarily and her eyes widened.

"Maybe I shouldn't have invited you on this trip knowing the way that I feel about you." He let out a frustrated sigh at his lack of foresight about the situation.

Sara's brow was furrowed as she considered his words. Again, she didn't want to jump to conclusions as she looked at him. "And exactly what would that be? I mean, how do you feel about me?"

Nick wasn't sure how she was going to respond, but he decided to just lay it on the line. "I like you, a lot, and not in a brotherly way either. I'd really like to date you." He could tell that she was a little taken aback by his confession. "I'm really sorry if this makes things awkward, Sara. I'm really, really sorry."

Sara looked at his conflicted expression and felt a smile creep across her face. "I'm not."

Nick's brows curved upwards. "You're not?"

Sara shook her head and let out a nervous chuckle. "No."

"Why?" Nick's throat felt exceptionally dry at that moment.

Sara just decided to blurt it out before she lost her courage. She averted her gaze just slightly. "One of the reasons I came with you on this trip is because lately it seems that my feelings for you have been changing." She glanced up and locked her eyes with his. "I really like you too, and there's nothing sisterly about it."

A smile broke out over Nick's face.

Sara continued talking. "But I'm concerned that this whole situation is just going to complicate things."

"The hotel room." Nick offered.

She furrowed her brow and nodded. "It's not that I'm not attracted to you. I think it's because I _am_ attracted to you."

"Yeah." Nick nodded in understanding. He knew she wasn't the kind of woman who gave herself away very easily and sharing a bed knowing that they felt the same way about each other was going to be difficult if not impossible if they were going to try and keep their hands off of each other.

"I mean, I just don't want to rush anything. I just want whatever is going to happen, to happen in its own time." Her expression was serious, but she was smiling.

Nick smiled back at her reassuringly. "Sara, I don't want to do anything to make you uncomfortable, and if sleeping together..." His eyes widened as he fumbled to explain himself. "I mean sharing a bed and actually sleeping makes you uncomfortable, then I'll sleep on the cold tile floor in the bathroom." He smirked at her as she let out a giggle. "Better than a cold shower."

Sara felt herself blushing and cleared her throat. She stood up and offered him her hand and as he took it, she smiled. "Let's just play it by ear, ok?"

He grinned at her and squeezed her hand as they continued walking back towards the shops that lined the plaza. "That sounds good to me."


	8. Chapter 8

Nick, Sara and Ned exchanged a worried glance as Juan Carlos pulled up in front of El Morro; the building wasn't what they expected, considering the way he'd raved about it, it was more of an eyesore. However, the taxi driver kept going on about how wonderful the food was and that his brother was expecting them, so with a brave foot forward they entered the restaurant. If they thought the outside was an eyesore, the inside didn't seem to be much better. The dining area was painted a hideous shade of orange and it was clear that the furniture had seen better days. If the smells wafting out of the kitchen weren't so good, the trio might have fled the restaurant right then.

While they waited to be seated, Nick had a secure hold on Sara's hand and neither one of them could seem to stop stealing glances at each other. Nick wanted to kiss her in the worst way, but so far there hadn't been an opportunity and he wanted their first kiss to be special. He glanced at her again and caught her looking at him. A smile spread across his face.

And then an animated man who looked like a slightly older version of Juan Carlos approached them with a wide smile on his face. "Welcome to El Morro. I am Miguel, Juan Carlos' brother. I have a special table reserved just for you." Miguel led them through the crowded restaurant and showed them the table.

"You've got a nice restaurant here, Miguel." Ned commented as he slid into a chair.

Nick and Sara glanced at each other and Nick coughed to keep from laughing at the ridiculous statement Ned had just made. Nice wasn't exactly the word that he would have chosen.

"Ah, well actually, the restaurant belongs to my wife's uncle, but we are just one big happy family." Miguel explained before Juan Carlos began to speak to him in rapid fire Spanish.

Ned turned to Sara and asked her about what she'd seen so far in Cozumel and as the two of them chatted, Nick tried to listen to what Miguel and Juan Carlos were saying. From what Nick could pick out he determined that Juan Carlos was ordering for all of them and he realized that he'd better intercede for Sara or she might be reduced to eating salad. "Uh, Juan Carlos, man."

The friendly taxi driver turned toward Nick with a raised eyebrow. "Si?"

Nick gestured towards Sara and smiled. "Sara's a vegetarian."

"Ah, si." Juan Carlos grinned. "We have many wonderful dishes just for her."

Sara nudged Nick in the ribs and addressed Juan Carlos. "I do eat fish too." She smirked at Nick.

Miguel smiled at her graciously. "We still have many wonderful dishes for you. Perhaps you'd like a seafood enchilada with pablano sauce?"

"Yes, sure." Sara smiled broadly.

"That sounds good." Ned added and then chuckled. "Actually, anything sounds good. I skipped lunch because I was looking forward to tonight."

"Then we bring you pollo ticuleno as well." Miguel stated with an air of finality before briskly turning around and striding towards la cucina to put in their order.

"Pollo ticuleno?" Ned looked apprehensive.

Nick wasn't sure about it either, but he was willing to try almost anything once, just so far as there were no unidentifiable parts to it.

Juan Carlos smiled. "Oh, yes, pollo ticuleno is five layers of tortillas with chicken, tomato sauce, mashed potatoes, peas, and cheese. Very delicious. A Yucatecán specialty."

Nick didn't think that sounded half bad and he hoped that there was going to be plenty. Those two fish tacos he'd had earlier had long since worn off and his stomach was already complaining.

"Just like something my mom would have made, sort of a Mexican shepherds pie." Ned looked like he was having a good time although every once in a while he looked at Nick and Sara with something akin to a pang of loneliness, it was clear that he missed Gina.

A short time later, it seemed that every dish that El Morro made was sitting on the table in front of them, including the pollo ticuleno and the lime soup that Juan Carlos had mentioned in the taxi on the way back from San Gervasio.

Some of the food was rather spicy though and Sara kept drinking water as fast as her glass was filled.

By the time they let the restaurant to have Juan Carlos take them back to their hotels, they had decided two things. He really wasn't that bad of a guy and despite its rundown exterior, the food at El Morro was amazing.

Juan Carlos dropped off Nick and Sara and then took off in a burst of speed with Ned clutching the dashboard of the taxi.

Nick took Sara's hand as they ascended the steps to their hotel room. After the mutual confession earlier, both of them were feeling a little nervous. Neither one of them really knew exactly what the other was expecting, and so as they walked into the room, they didn't say anything for a long moment.

Finally, Sara smirked at him. "This isn't awkward."

Nick laughed. "We'll just sleep, ok. I don't want to make you uncomfortable." The truth was he really wanted to do a hell of a lot more than sleep.

Sara pursed her lips together in a nervous smile. "Uh, so I was thinking that... what I'm trying to say is..." She glanced at her suitcase as Nick quirked an eyebrow at her. "I didn't expect us to be sharing a hotel room, not that the hotel expected the other room to flood, and last night we sort of ending up sleeping in our clothes so it wasn't really a big deal." She cleared her throat and just cut to the chase. "My pajamas aren't really appropriate to wear in front of you."

Nick looked amused and a little excited too about what exactly her pajamas looked like.

Sara crossed her arms in front of her body and tried to keep her embarrassed smile at bay. "I did not bring what you're imagining."

Nick snorted out a laugh.

Sara continued. "I was just wondering if maybe I could borrow something to wear and tomorrow I'll go to a store and buy something else."

Nick couldn't resist teasing her as he pulled a T-shirt and a pair of boxers out of his suitcase. "Are they lacey?" At the moment all he could think about was what Sara dressed in the skimpiest piece of lingerie might look like.

She smirked as she took the clothes from his hand and headed towards the bathroom to change tossing a comment over her shoulder at him. "Well maybe someday you might get lucky and find out." She knew exactly where his mind was running because hers was running right beside it; she just wasn't ready to take that kind of leap just yet. The first step had been admitting to herself that she had feelings for Nick, and then she took another step and admitted it to him. So why the hell did baby steps feel like leaps off of a cliff?


	9. Chapter 9

Nick didn't sleep particularly well despite the fact that Sara was right next to him, or despite the fact that he'd managed to sling his arm over her waist and spoon up next to her while he was sleeping. After she had emerged from the bathroom dressed in one of his T-shirts and a pair of his boxers, he had gone in to brush his teeth and by the time he gotten out, she was already in bed and had fallen asleep. Apparently, that first kiss was going to have to wait a little longer, along with a few other things.

The sound of whimpering caused Nick to stir from his sleep and as he became more alert he realized that Sara was the source of the noise. She was still asleep but sounded like something was troubling her. He rested his hand on her shoulder and gently whispered. "Sara."

"Nnmmn." Sara didn't open her eyes, but her brow was furrowed.

Nick stroked her hair and as he did, his fingers brushed her forehead which was warm to the touch, perhaps a little to warm. He whispered again. "Sara."

Finally Sara's eyes fluttered open and she let out a cross between a groan and a whimper. "Nick." Her voice had a distinct whine in it.

"Are you ok?" He sounded concerned because he wasn't sure if she was having a nightmare or if something else was wrong.

"I don't feel good." She let out a sniffle and closed her eyes again.

"Where don't you feel good?" Nick continued stroking her hair, more concerned about her than the fact that they were only a few days into their ten day vacation.

"All over." Sara whined, sniffling again. "Mmmmnnmph." With speed that could rival a flash of lightning she bolted from the bed and made a beeline for the bathroom.

Before Nick could even fully sit up, he could hear her unloading the entire contents of her stomach. He slipped out of bed and softly tapped on the bathroom door. "Sara?"

"Uuuuhmm." Sara groaned, not sure she wanted to move from where she was hugging the toilet.

Nick slowly opened the door and crouched down next to her. "Do you want me to get you some water?"

"No." There was a waver in her voice. "No more water."

It wasn't until that moment that it occurred to Nick that he hadn't drank any water at dinner, but she had. "Ok." He rubbed her back, now fairly certain why she wasn't feeling well. "Looks like Montezuma's getting a little revenge on you, Sar."

In spite of the fact that she felt crappy, she rolled her eyes. "Montezuma was Aztec. Cozumel was inhabited by the Mayans."

Nick snorted out a laugh. "Leave it to you to point that out at a time like this." He continued rubbing her back a few minutes more until it seemed that the wave of nausea had passed. "You finished?"

Sara just nodded. "I sure as hell hope so." She pulled herself up off of the floor and didn't protest when Nick slipped his arm around her waist as they headed back out to the bed. She also didn't protest when Nick wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him, rubbing her back in a comforting gesture.

Nick kissed her forehead. "You wanna try and get some more sleep?" He reasoned that she probably needed something from a pharmacy, but at this hour, one probably wasn't open yet.

"Yeah." Sara's voice sounded so small and she closed her eyes, taking comfort from Nick's embrace as she allowed herself to drift back to sleep.

It wasn't more than an hour later that the whole scenario played out again. In fact, neither one of them got much more sleep that night as wave after wave of nausea hit Sara. Whatever bug had been in that water was wreaking havoc on Sara's intestinal tract. By the time the sun was up, Sara had no intention of getting out of bed other than to spend some quality time with the porcelain god in the next room.

Nick was bleary-eyed, but decided that he needed to venture out and find something to settle Sara's stomach and the other digestive issues she was having. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Hey, Sar?"

"Yeah?" Sara didn't even bother to open her eyes lest the room start spinning.

"I'm going to go see if I can find a pharmacy or something, ok?" He slid his hand up and down her arm in a comforting caress.

"'Kay." She mumbled.

"Do you want anything?" Nick reasoned that she was going to have to start putting fluids back in even if she didn't feel like it.

"Anything but water." Sara just wanted to sleep. The fact that they were in a tropical paradise didn't seem to matter at the moment.

"Ok, I'm just gonna grab a quick shower and go then." Nick slipped out of bed and pulled a change of clothes from his suitcase and headed into the bathroom. He was in the middle of rinsing himself off when he felt a whoosh of cold air as the bathroom door opened up and Sara rushed in.

"Sorry." Sara whimpered just before she threw up again.

Nick turned the water off and poked his head out of the shower, flashing her a sheepish grin. "Uh, Sara?"

She glanced up, noticing that the shower curtain, save for a strategically placed floral print, didn't exactly block the view on the other side. She knew she really wasn't feeling well when she couldn't even muster a smirk. "Yeah?"

"Do you think you could hand me a towel?" Nick was fully aware of the situation with the shower curtain and at the moment he didn't think he needed to flash Sara. As much as he'd like to believe that it would make her feel better, he knew that what she needed more was at the pharmacy.

"Yeah." She pulled a towel off the rack and tossed it at Nick.

Her toss was a bit short and Nick lunged for the towel while trying to keep the shower curtain over himself without a whole lot of luck. He managed to catch the towel, but lost his balance and tripped, falling out of the shower and landing on his butt, flashing Sara in the process before he could get the towel around his waist.

As her latest wave of nausea faded, Sara finally smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Nice bedside manner."

He let out a soft chuckle and winked even as he felt his cheeks burning at the embarrassing situation. "Hey, that was just my tubside manner. You haven't really seen my bedside manner yet."


	10. Chapter 10

Nick was carefully trying to decipher the contents of the shelves at the local pharmacy. He wasn't really sure what he was looking at and since he'd walked in the door, the pharmacist had been busy. He was standing there rubbing the back of his neck, his brow furrowed in frustration.

A somewhat familiar voice caught his attention. "Nick?"

Nick looked up to find Ned across the aisle. "Hey, Ned."

Ned quirked an eyebrow. "You look a little lost."

Nick let out a chuckle. "Uh, yeah. My Spanish is a little too rusty to figure out what I'm looking at here and the pharmacist is a little busy."

"Maybe I can help." Ned walked over to where Nick was standing and gestured to the display of medicines. "Ok, so we have your basic decongestant here."

"Well, we certainly won't need that." Nick commented.

"What are your symptoms?" Ned looked at Nick with concern.

Nick shook his head. "Me? No, I feel fine. It's Sara. She's been throwing up and, uh, well, let's just say that her digestive system is pretty upset."

Ned nodded in understanding. "Has she had anything to drink?"

Nick shook his head again. "No, and she's made it pretty clear she doesn't want to drink the water again anytime soon."

"Well she definitely needs fluids in this weather or she's going to end up in the hospital." Ned had a thoughtful expression on his face as he began pulling things off the shelf and depositing them into Nick's basket. "What's her temperature?"

Nick looked at Ned a bit oddly. "It's elevated, but I don't know exactly."

Ned glanced over and noticed the expression on Nick's face. "Hey, I'm a doctor. We never did get around to that 'what do you do for a living?' question yesterday."

"Yeah, I guess we didn't, of course Juan Carlos made it hard to get a word in edgewise." Nick quipped.

Ned chuckled. "I don't think I've ever met someone who could talk that much and that fast. It's a wonder he doesn't pass out from lack of oxygen."

Nick furrowed his brow again as he looked at what Ned had put in his basket. "Uh, do you think you could come and take a look at Sara? I'm kind of worried about her because she doesn't ever really get sick."

"Sure, I can do that. I was just stopping in here to get some more sunscreen. I sort of overdid it yesterday." Ned's fair skin was decidedly reddish.

Nick half snorted out a laugh. "I sure hope you're not a dermatologist."

"Hey, we heal other people, no one said we were good at taking care of ourselves. I'm actually a pediatrician." Ned smirked.

Nick pulled a thermometer off of the display and put it into the basket. "Ok, Doc, let's get this stuff and go check on Sara."

As they got into the line to check out, Ned nudged Nick. "You're probably going to want to get her some soda and crackers too."

Nick glanced around and furrowed his brow as he realized that the pharmacy was just that a pharmacy. He was going to have to go to a grocer to pick up the soda and crackers.

"There's probably a grocer near your hotel." Ned suggested.

After stopping to buy something that wouldn't further upset Sara's stomach, Nick and Ned made their way back to the hotel. As they walked into the dimly lit room, it was apparent that Sara was asleep.

Just the sound of the door closing caused Sara to stir and her eyes fluttered open. "Nick?"

"I'm here, Sar." Nick walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and began stroking her hair.

"Did you get me something?" She didn't even notice that Ned was in the room.

"Yeah, I got you some medicine, some soda, a box of crackers, and a doctor." Nick could tell that she probably had a low-grade fever because her forehead was still warm to the touch.

"Doctor?" Sara was curious how Nick had come up with one so quickly, he hadn't been gone that long, or at least she thought he hadn't.

"Ned." Nick gestured over to where Ned was standing just inside the door to the hotel room.

"Oh." Sara smiled a bit tiredly Ned's direction.

Ned strode over to the bed and crouched down. "So Nick tells me you've been throwing up."

"Yeah." Sara confirmed. "That's part of it anyway." She hoped that whatever she had wasn't going to make her feel like this for the entire trip.

"Well, I just want to take your temperature and ask you a couple of questions, ok?" Ned pulled the thermometer out of the bag of things Nick had gotten at the pharmacy.

"Ok." Sara really wanted to close her eyes and enjoy the sensation of Nick's fingers brushing against her cheek as he continued to stroke her hair.

"Open up." Ned instructed as he poised the thermometer in front of Sara's mouth.

She complied as Ned slipped it under her tongue.

"So now that you know I'm a doctor, what do you two do?" Ned asked.

"Mpnn sjen mmpatr." Sara mumbled.

Nick smirked. "Crime scene investigators."

"I actually got that." Ned glanced at Sara with an amused look on his face. "Kids try and talk all the time with those things in their mouths."

"Mphst?" Sara quirked an eyebrow.

"Nope, not a dentist." Ned smiled.

Nick chuckled. "He's a pediatrician, Sar." He began rubbing her back, smiling as he noticed her eyes slowly closing.

"So you're both crime scene investigators then?" Ned looked at Nick curiously.

Nick nodded. "Las Vegas Crime Lab."

"So you met at work then?" Ned's mouth twitched into a sort of half smile.

"Mmmphuh." Sara answered affirmatively.

"That's a yes in case you didn't quite get that." Nick chuckled softly.

"Ok, Sara, let's just see what we've got." He pulled the thermometer out of her mouth and studied it for a moment. "Hmm, well you've definitely got a fever, but I think with some fluids that'll probably come down."

"So which one of these should she take first?" Nick looked at the array of medicines Ned had gotten him to purchase.

Ned picked up a bottle of something that looked an awful lot like Pepto Bismol. "Take this until you can keep food down."

"Ok." Sara agreed, closing her eyes again.

"Then I want you to take some Imodium because the fun little bacteria in the water you drank are going to want to live in your digestive tract for a few days and the pills are just easier if you don't feel like throwing up anymore." Ned smirked. "And I'd recommend staying close to town where you can find a restroom fairly quick."

"If I didn't feel so crappy, this would be really embarrassing." Sara managed a bit of a smile.

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about." Nick tried to reassure her.

"Nick's right. It happens all the time when people travel." Ned looked at her sympathetically.

"I should know better." Sara had done a fair share of traveling and knew that no matter where you went, bottled water was always better. She just didn't think that a restaurant frequented by tourists would serve tap water.

"I'm going to let you get some rest. Give me a call if you need anything else, you still have the number over at my hotel?" Ned looked at Nick expectantly.

"Yeah, we do." Nick stood up and shook Ned's hand. "Thanks a lot man. We'll have to try and catch you for another meal when Sara's feeling better."

"Thanks, Ned." Sara lifted her hand half in a half-hearted wave.

"No problem." With that Ned left, closing the door softly behind him.

Nick sat down next to Sara on the bed and opened the bottle of Pepto, pouring some into the measuring cap. "Let's get you some of this pink stuff, ok?"

"Kay." Sara smiled tiredly and then sat up long enough to drink the concoction. "Nick?"

"Yeah, Sar?" Nick began to rub her back.

"I'm sorry I don't feel good. I didn't mean to ruin your vacation." She looked at him apologetically.

"Hey, you didn't ruin my vacation. I'm glad you're here." He smiled.

She furrowed her brow as she seemed to be mulling something over and then looked at him inquisitively. "Are you going to leave again?"

Nick smirked at her. "I was kind of thinking that I might want to take a nap."

A tiny smile tugged at her lips. "I'm kind of tired too."

"Well see, now that's something we can do together and we don't even have to go outside." His eyes danced with amusement as he lay down next to her and pulled her into his arms, placing a kiss on her forehead before closing his eyes.


	11. Chapter 11

Nick was thoroughly enjoying himself. The sun was shining and he could hear the waves crashing onto the shoreline not too far off, but the best part was that Sara was lying next to him with her arm draped across his waist and her head against his chest. The fact that she was wearing quite possibly the smallest bikini he'd ever seen just added to his enjoyment of the situation. It was tempting to just slide his hand down and give her butt a squeeze, but try as he might he just couldn't make his hand move, and for that matter, he couldn't seem to open his eyes either. All of a sudden the sound that he'd thought were waves crashing onto the shore registered in his mind as the shower going in the bathroom, and as he blinked his eyes open sleepily, he realized that he was hugging a pillow and that this was no beach.

Still, a smile flitted across his face as he realized that if Sara was taking a shower then she must be feeling better. And if she was feeling better, then it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that she just might feel like kissing pretty damn soon. Nick stretched out on the bed and closed his eyes and let his smile widen into a grin as he considered that maybe they could be hitting the beach soon, and who knew what sort of swimwear she owned. For now, he was just going to imagine that she had that bikini in his dream.

He didn't notice the water shut off as he allowed his mind to wander to just what he'd like to do with Sara on that beach of his dreams. Nor did he hear the bathroom door open, at least until he heard Sara giggle.

Sara could tell that Nick's mind was obviously somewhere else entirely by the dopey grin on his face and she couldn't help but snicker as she toweled her hair. "Must have been a good dream."

Nick laced his fingers behind his head and chuckled as he opened his eyes. "As a matter of fact it was."

She smirked. "Feel like sharing?" She still wasn't feeling one hundred percent, but she no longer felt like throwing up.

"It was just a dream that would make Greg jealous." Nick had a mischievous glint in his eye.

Sara arched her brows and tried to restrain her smile. "Oh?"

Nick had a self-satisfied smile on his face. "Yep. He would have loved seeing you in a bikini."

"A bikini, huh?" She knew that she was feeling better because she suddenly had an urge to string Nick along.

Nick waggled his eyebrows at her and spoke in a husky tone. "A really, really sexy one."

Sara furrowed her brow and put on a thoughtful expression as she continued to towel dry her curly hair. "Well, I hate to disappoint you, but a bikini really isn't my thing."

Nick's face fell slightly. "Oh?"

Sara continued with the most serious expression she could muster. "What with the risks of skin cancer and all, I really prefer a one piece, and since I thought we might be snorkeling at some point, I got one of those more athletic ones, you know like they use for competitive swimming?"

Suddenly Nick had an image of a swimsuit that covered way too much of Sara.

Sara smirked in an effort to keep from laughing. Nick was as easy to read as a jumbo-tron in a football stadium.

"So, is it one of those kind that comes down to here?" Nick rested his hand mid-thigh and then arched his brow as he moved it up towards his hip. "Or here?" He looked at her hopefully.

Sara snorted out a laugh. "C'mon, we're in Mexico, what do you think?"

Nick looked confused for a moment and then narrowed his gaze at her. "Are you messing with me?"

Sara giggled and walked over to the bed. "It was so easy."

Nick smiled. "Someone's feeling better."

Sara crawled onto the bed and lay down next to him, propping herself up on her elbow as she faced him. "I'm hungry."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Did you eat any of the crackers I got you?"

A faint blush colored Sara's cheeks. "Yeah."

Nick glanced over to where the box of crackers had been sitting on the bedside table and noticed that it was empty. When he noticed that the soda was empty too, he smiled and then reached over and tucked a curl behind her ear. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

Sara's stomach gurgled and she smirked. "Not a hundred percent, but I don't feel like throwing up anymore."

"That's good." He grinned at her as he rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow so they were facing each other just inches apart. "Very good."

Sara smiled as she felt him rest his hand on her hip. She had a feeling that he wanted to kiss her, and quite frankly if he didn't do it soon, she was going to take the initiative.

Nick slid his hand up her arm, his palm coming to rest on her cheek. "You are so beautiful."

Sara could tell by the look in his eyes that he really believed what he was saying and rather than protest that he was exaggerating, she unconsciously licked her lips.

Nick studied Sara's expression and felt a wad of nerves in the pit of his stomach begin to unfurl. His throat suddenly felt dry and he wondered why he was so nervous about kissing Sara, and then he realized that it was because there was so much more at risk here than with any other woman he'd ever dated. He smiled softly. "Can I kiss you?"

Sara reached out and placed her palm against his T-shirt clad chest and smiled, having a hard time not staring at his lips. "I wish you would." Her voice was slightly husky.

Nick's smile widened into a grin as he leaned towards her and softly touched his lips against hers. Her lips were so soft and strong and Nick couldn't help but feel a charge of electricity as he felt her respond. There was so much behind that kiss, so much feeling and emotion that it felt a bit overwhelming.

Sara was grinning like a fool as they broke the kiss a few moments later. Not even in her best daydreams had she imagined that he could kiss like that. And as her eyes locked with his, she understood why. The foundation of this relationship was a rock solid friendship that seemed to have grown into love all on it's own, and even if she wasn't ready to say those words, she knew that it was only a matter of time, because it was clear that Nick Stokes adored her.

Nick trailed his fingers along her jaw line as if trying to memorize every nuance of her features. "Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to kiss you?"

Sara giggled a little self-consciously. "I don't know about you, but it was worth the wait."

Nick chuckled and then leaned in and kissed her again, knowing that he couldn't let himself get too carried away. As he pulled back he had an impish grin on his face. "So, what does your swimsuit look like anyway?"

Sara smirked, her eyes flitting from his lips to his eyes and back again. "Let's go get something to eat and maybe you'll find out."

Nick's brows arched upwards. "Oh, really?"

Sara nodded and then leaned in and kissed him, this one longer and deeper than the first two. When she suddenly pulled away, she had an odd expression on her face.

Nick looked confused and then concerned. "What's wrong?"

Sara let out a little whimper. "I'll be right back." She bolted from the bed and dashed into the bathroom. Apparently she wasn't feeling as well as she had thought.

Despite the fact that Sara wasn't up for that trip to the beach quite yet, Nick had a huge grin on his face. He had gotten to kiss Sara and the reality was far better than he could have imagined.


	12. Chapter 12

"I'm sorry." Sara furrowed her brow at Nick as she emerged from the bathroom with an embarrassed expression on her face, hopeful that her quick exit hadn't dampened their first kiss.

Nick was still grinning like an idiot and he pulled himself up off of the bed and went over to where she stood, resting his hand on her shoulders. "You have nothing to be sorry about." His eyes caressed her face.

Sara smirked. "It's just not how I envisioned my first kiss with you would be." She suddenly sounded a bit flustered as she averted her gaze from his. "I mean, the kiss was incredible, amazing really. It's just me." She gestured towards the bathroom. "Well this thing anyway. I'm just sorry it's getting in the way."

"Sara." Nick's voice was soft, but there was a hint of amusement in it, beckoning her to look at him again.

She looked up.

"You have no idea how much I enjoyed kissing you, even in spite of that." He was having difficulty trying to explain to her just how earth shattering it had felt to him without divulging how deep his feelings seemed to be going; he just wasn't ready to articulate those yet.

"Me too." She couldn't help but grin and then impulsively leaned in and kissed him as she slid her arms around his neck. They stood like that for a few good long minutes trading soft, slow kisses, enjoying the newness of the experience and the taste of each other's lips.

When they finally did pull apart, Nick let out a chuckle and looked down at her. "Do you still feel like eating?"

Sara nodded, her smile widening. "Yeah, I do."

"Good, because I'm starving." He realized that despite his trip out to the pharmacy and the grocery, he had not eaten since they'd had dinner at El Morro and he was extremely hungry.

They settled on a restaurant that catered to tourist with it's more American style food and Sara made a point to order bottled water to drink despite assurances that the water was perfectly safe.

Nick looked at her in amusement as the waiter left and then he reached across the table and wrapped his hand around hers. "So what do you want to do after we eat?"

A smile played at Sara's lips as she took in the feel of his thumb caressing the back of her hand. "Well, we could go shopping." She smirked. "I still need to get some real pajamas."

Nick chuckled. "You know the more you don't want me to see the ones you brought, the more curious I am as to what they look like."

Sara just shook her head trying to keep her smile from turning into a grin. "Nick."

"You can't blame a guy for trying." He remarked.

"I just, it's just…" She let out a sigh before continuing. "I'm just afraid that it might push thing along faster than either one of us is ready for." She watched as Nick tried to swallow his smile and then she found herself trying to swallow one of her own. "Ok, faster than I'm ready."

Nick gave her hand a gentle squeeze and he smiled softly at her. "Sara, I'm not going to push you into something you don't want, but I'm also not going to lie to you and tell you that I'm not extremely attracted to you."

"I know." She countered returning his smile. "It's not that I don't want it, I do." She cleared her throat and felt her cheeks flush a little as she watched a grin spread across Nick's face. "I just need some time to get used to you and I being an 'us'. Going from friends to more is a little scary."

"A lot scary." Nick confessed as he looked at her earnestly.

She nodded and looked into his eyes, glad that he understood her fear and insecurity. "Yeah, a lot scary." They were both quiet for a long moment before Sara spoke again. "And then there's my current digestive issues to consider." She smirked. "Not exactly conducive to enjoying the moment."

Nick chuckled. "Ok, so we'll go shopping after we eat." He decided that changing the subject was probably a good idea and he gave Sara's hand another squeeze as he saw their waiter approaching with the food.

After devouring their meals with all the gusto of a wrestler trying to make weight, Nick and Sara headed back to the shops that ringed Parque Benito Juarez. They slowly meandered through the shops taking time to pick up souvenirs for people back home.

"Hey, Sara, what do you think about this for Greg?" Nick was sporting a very large shocking red sombrero with multicolored trim.

The image of him in that hat doing a little hip shimmy was enough to send Sara into a fit of giggles.

Nick rested his hands on his hips and quirked an eyebrow at Sara. "What?"

Sara let out a snort and started to laugh again. "You." Giggle. "Look." Giggle. Snort. "Ridiculous." More giggles.

"Hey, I think I look pretty good." He protested until he turned around and looked at himself in the mirror and realized that Sara was right. He let out a snort and then glanced at Sara over his shoulder. "It would be perfect for Greg though."

Sara was still giggling. "And just how in the world were you planning on fitting that thing in your suitcase?"

He smirked as he pulled the hat off and put it back on the shelf it had come from. "Ok, you make a good point, Ms. Smarty Pants."

Sara stepped towards him and reached for his hand. "C'mon, I still haven't found what I'm looking for."

As they left the store, Nick glanced over at her with a mischievous expression on his face. "I still don't know why you didn't want that thing I pointed out to you about two stores back."

Sara rolled her eyes at him and tried to put on her best stern expression, failing miserably. "I am not going to wear a mumu."

"I don't think that's what it's called, Sar." Nick couldn't help the smile spreading across his face.

Sara tried to restrain a smile. "I don't care what they're called, even I don't want something that covers me up that much."

Nick's smile spread into a grin as he waggled his eyebrows at her. "Neither do I."


	13. Chapter 13

"I'm kind of glad you forgot to bring a razor." Sara's fingers skimmed over the scruffy growth on Nick's face. "This makes you look kind of sexy."

Nick smiled impishly. "Kind of sexy?" He puffed his chest out a little bit as Sara let out a giggle.

"You are such a boy sometimes." She smirked.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Nick countered, reaching over and sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her close.

Sara's hands splayed out against his chest and she looked up into his eyes. "Do you really think it's a good idea to make out in the foyer of a church?"

They had stepped into the historic Iglesia de San Miguel to see the ivory statue of St. Michael the Archangel that rested on the church's alter. Legend had it that more than a century before, farmers digging up a field had found the statue and thought it to be a gift from Juan Grijalva who landed on Cozumel in 1518.

Nick chuckled softly. "Do you think it's a bad idea?" He knew the answer to the question, but since she'd brought it up, he decided to tease her.

Sara smirked at him. "Yes, I think it's a bad idea." Her voice was a whisper.

Nick grinned at her. "Then maybe we should go somewhere else." After they had finally found Sara some pajamas, as well as souvenirs for a few people they had made their way over the main church that served the town of San Miguel.

Sara giggled. "I want to see the church first."

Nick leaned down and gave her a soft sweet kiss before releasing her from his embrace. "Have I mentioned that I'm glad you came with me?"

Sara couldn't help but smile. "I think you might have mentioned it once or twice."

Nick held her hand as they wandered around the church, studying the architecture and pausing to look at the statue that rested on the alter at the front of the church. So far since they'd left the hotel that morning, Sara had only had one other digestive emergency and she seemed to be feeling better and better all the time. He was hopeful that maybe tomorrow they might actually get to go to the beach and get some swimming in.

As they stepped out of the church into the quickly setting sun, Sara glanced over at Nick. "I didn't realize it was getting so late."

"You hungry?" Nick realized that they hadn't eaten in a while, but after a few of the comments Sara had made earlier after making an emergency stop at a restroom, he wasn't sure she was going to be looking forward to eating.

"Maybe a little." She smiled at him, enjoying the feel of her hand resting in his as they strolled down the street in the general direction of the beach.

"Fish tacos?" Nick quirked an eyebrow at her as he had a sudden taste for the tacos they'd had the other day.

"Yeah, that sounds good." She agreed.

By the time they found the vendor they'd bought the tacos from before, the sun was casting a pinkish golden hue over the entire sky and as they took a seat on a bench overlooking the beach, they found that the scenery was breathtaking.

Nick devoured his tacos and as Sara slowly ate hers, he slung an arm across her shoulders, his fingers brushing against her shoulder where her sleeveless shirt had left it exposed. As Sara finished eating, she rested her head against his shoulder and suddenly felt a wave of emotion that she couldn't get a hold of. It wasn't until she let out a sniffle that Nick noticed that she had started crying.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He looked utterly perplexed at this sudden welling of tears coming out of normally in control Sara Sidle.

Sara sniffled and let out an embarrassed laugh. "I don't know. I just feel so overwhelmed." She choked back a sob as she felt more tears slip down her cheeks.

Nick wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, unsure of what to say.

"I mean you took care of me when I wasn't feeling good and then the sunset and the ocean." She let out a nervous laugh as she sniffled back a few more tears. She pushed him away a little bit so she could look in his eyes. "I just can't believe you want to be with me." There was a somewhat incredulous tone in her voice. She couldn't remember the last time a man treated her with the respect that just seemed to come naturally to Nick.

Nick smiled at her and reached up to brush the tears from her face. "I do want to be with you. You're one of my best friends and I think I just woke up one day and realized that somewhere along the line I'd started falling for you."

As his soft words began to register in Sara's mind she felt her stomach flip. She wanted to ask him exactly what he meant by falling, but she was afraid if she did, that he wouldn't be ready to say that word, and she wasn't sure what she would do if she heard that word.

Nick studied her face and decided to just lay all of his cards on the table. "I know that you don't want to rush things between us, but I have to tell you that I'm in love with you, Sara."

A silence hung between them for a brief moment and then Sara leaned in and kissed Nick hungrily. She wasn't sure she was ready to tell him what her heart had been telling her since she arrived in Cozumel, but her kiss told him enough.

As they pulled apart, Nick whispered in the fading light. "I love you, Sara."

Sara sniffled again. "Nick, I..."

"Shhh, you don't have to say anything." He held her close, not wanting her to say something she wasn't ready to say just because he wanted to hear it. "I just had to tell you."

Sara just nodded as she pulled away and looked into his eyes. "Do you want to just walk for a while?"

He smiled. "Yeah, that sounds nice." He held her hand as they stood.

They strolled along the beach for quite a while, enjoying the sound of the surf crashing against the sand, and stopping now and then to share a lingering kiss. By the time they got back to their hotel, it was nearly midnight and both of them were exhausted.

Nick had every intention of staying awake until Sara emerged from the bathroom, but minutes after he laid his head on the pillow, he was asleep.

Sara was a little surprised to see him already asleep, but she couldn't help but smile as she watched him for a few minutes, noticing the way his eyelashes fanned out against his cheek and how peaceful he looked before she finally turned the light off and climbed into bed next to him. As she nestled her body against his, she whispered in the darkness so softly she could barely hear her own voice. "I think I'm falling in love with you, Nick."


	14. Chapter 14

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Nick looked at Sara with an expectant expression on his face.

She smirked. "If you're referring to my digestive issues, I'm willing to take the risk."

"Because, we won't be back for a while." Nick wanted to make sure that she wasn't having any second thoughts about their outing for the day.

She rolled her eyes slightly. "Nick, if we don't go today we might not get to go at all. Besides, I think things are under control."

"If you're sure." Nick had his arms crossed over his chest and was looking at her intently.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't want to see me in a bikini." Sara pursed her lips together to keep from smiling knowing full well that she was hitting one of Nick's hot buttons.

"Bikini?" A smile began to spread across Nick's face as his thoughts drifted back to that dream he'd had about he and Sara on the beach and that oh so hardly there bikini.

Sara giggled. "What did you think I'd bring to Mexico?"

Nick wasn't sure he should answer that question.

Sara smirked again.

"So, we should get going then." Nick suggested as he quirked an eyebrow. "You do have your swimsuit on, don't you?"

Sara arched both brows and stepped towards him, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Yes, but I'm not about to show it to you right now because I have a feeling that if I do, we're going to be late and I don't want to miss out on getting to snorkel in that cave."

Just as Sara moved to step away, Nick snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her close, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "We won't be late."

Sara giggled. "That's what you say now."

"Ok, so maybe we'd be a little late." Nick conceded with a grin as he looked into her eyes.

"I don't want to be late." Sara smiled in spite of herself and then leaned up and kissed him softly before pulling away.

Nick had an impish grin on his face. "Are you sure I can't have a peek?"

Sara snorted out a laugh as she pushed him away. "Nick, we're going to be snorkeling for a while, it's not like you won't have plenty of opportunity."

He chuckled softly. "Promise?"

She rolled her eyes and tugged on his arm as she headed towards the door of their hotel room.

They had asked the desk clerk at the hotel to get them a taxi to take them to where the guide was picking everyone up for the excursion into the jungle to the cave where an underground river flowed.

As they approached the taxi, Nick let out a chuckle. "Wouldn't you know it."

"Juan Carlos." Sara smiled as the familiar taxi driver smiled broadly at them.

"Nick and Sara, it is so good to see you. When I hear that we need a pick up here at Hacienda San Miguel, I had suspicions that it might be you." Juan Carlos looked at them in the rear view mirror as they climbed in. "So where are we going today?"

"Snorkeling in the jungle." Nick replied.

"Ah, I know the place. Not really for me, but if you are adventurous, it's just the thing." Juan Carlos continued.

"We're meeting a guide near…" Nick didn't have a chance to finish his sentence.

"At Ned's hotel." Juan Carlos grinned.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Sara smirked.

"Mi amigo Javi picks up the tourists and takes them out there." Juan Carlos shrugged.

Nick absentmindedly slung his arm across Sara's shoulders and kissed her cheek, causing a smile to spread across her face, a move that did not go unnoticed by Juan Carlos.

"So, Nick and Sara, I have not seen you since our dinner at El Morro…" He seemed to be fishing for information.

"I've been a little sick." Sara responded.

"Oh, no. I hope it's not serious." Juan Carlos seemed genuinely concerned.

"Just a little Montezuma's revenge from drinking tap water." Nick quipped.

"I'm so sorry." The taxi driver furrowed his brow at Sara.

"I'm feeling a lot better." She smiled reassuringly at Juan Carlos who seemed to think that it was his fault.

They pulled up in front of the hotel where others were gathering near a bus. "Ok, so I should meet you here in a few hours then." Juan Carlos seemed to have decided that he was providing transportation both ways.

"If it's no trouble man." Nick replied as he and Sara slid out of the taxi and handed him the fare.

"No problem." Juan Carlos grinned and then gunned the engine and sped off in true Juan Carlos fashion.

As Nick and Sara approached the bus, a very curious site met them. Standing just off to the side of the crowd was Ned being chatted up by a very leggy blond and he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it.

Nick leaned over and whispered to Sara. "It looks like Ned might have a good time on this trip after all."

Sara was a little more skeptical. "I just hope she's nicer than she looks, because I'd hate for him to get his heart broken again."

Nick chuckled softly and slid his arm around Sara's waist, planting a kiss on her cheek. "You're cute when you're protective."

Sara smirked as she looked at him. "I'm just saying; she may be pretty but that doesn't mean there's any depth there."

Nick chuckled again. "But it doesn't mean there isn't though either. I mean look at you."

Sara furrowed her brow. "What about me?" Her insecurity was evident in the tone of her voice.

Nick pulled her close. "Just that you're intelligent, well educated, articulate, and absolutely beautiful."

Sara's cheeks tinged pink.

"I love you, Sara." Nick leaned over and kissed her softly.

Sara heard her own words echoing in the back of her mind as he pulled away, but couldn't make them come out of her mouth, instead she looked into his eyes intently and hoped that he could read what her heart wanted to say.

Nick smiled and gestured towards Ned. "Let's go check out Ned's friend and see if she meets with your approval."

"Ok." Sara replied, studying the blond near Ned as they approached.

Ned glanced up as they neared and smiled. "Hey, Sara, you must be feeling better."

"I am." She smiled.

"Nick, you guys going on this snorkeling trip?" Ned queried him.

"We are." Nick replied.

Ned looked at Sara quizzically. "Are you sure you're up for this? You were pretty dehydrated the other day."

"I'm fine." Sara was determined to go snorkeling. "I've been getting plenty of fluids and I haven't had an episode since yesterday." She pursed her lips together to keep her embarrassed smile at bay.

The blond cleared her throat and smiled in Nick and Sara's direction.

"Oh, I'm forgetting my manners." Ned said with a laugh in his voice. "Carla, this is Nick and Sara. Nick and Sara, this is Carla."

Carla smirked as she shook Sara's hand. "I went to med school with Ned and we ran into each other yesterday."

"Nice to meet you." Sara was already beginning to change her opinion of Carla.


	15. Chapter 15

The drive out to the jungle was pleasant enough. Juan Carlos' friend Javi kept up a colorful description through the bus intercom of what they were going to see once they descended into the cave, which was really a large cavern full of crystalline water and rock formations.

As Nick and Sara watched Ned across the aisle of the bus out of the corner of their eyes they noticed that he seemed relaxed and happy talking with Carla and it seemed that at least for the moment, Gina was a faint memory.

Nick leaned over and whispered in Sara's ear. "What do you think of her now?"

Sara smiled. "Ok, you were right. She's nice."

Nick chuckled softly. "So can you at least tell me what color you bikini is?"

"I can." She smirked, but didn't volunteer any further information.

Nick quirked an eyebrow at her. "And?"

Sara leaned towards him and whispered very softly in his ear. "I didn't say I would." She let out a giggle as Nick turned to face her with a raised eyebrow. "It's way more fun to torture you."

Nick leaned in and whispered in her ear. "You are an evil woman, Sara Sidle."

Sara giggled and then smirked at him. "But you love me."

Nick couldn't help but smile at the thought as he looked into her eyes. "Yes, I do." He leaned over and gave her a chaste kiss before lacing his fingers with hers and then leaning back in his seat to relax for the rest of the short bus ride.

As the group disembarked from the bus they listened to Javi instruct them regarding the descent into the cave and how they would be led through the cavern by a guide so that they wouldn't get disoriented or lost as they navigated through the stalactites and stalagmites under the water.

Once they were in the cavern, Sara was amazed at how much natural light was present and she was so entranced by the scenery that she didn't notice that Nick was staring at her with a dopey grin on his face until she'd begun to don her snorkeling gear. Sara felt her cheeks flush a little and then a grin spread across her face and she made no attempt to hide the fact that she was staring at Nick's well-muscled chest.

Nick stepped towards her and let out a low whistle before leaning towards her and whispering in her ear. "My dreams didn't do you justice because that is one hell of a bikini."

Sara pursed her lips together in an effort to keep her embarrassed smile from getting any bigger. "It's not exactly skimpy, Nick." In truth, her swimsuit was an athletic looking red two piece that was more functional than revealing, but it revealed enough to get Nick's imagination going.

"It's not the suit, it's you." Nick whispered back softly before leaning in and softly kissing her cheek.

Sara didn't have a chance to respond as Javi directed their attention towards the guide. As they listened to the man who identified himself as Marco, Sara felt a pair of hands coming to rest on her hips and an involuntary shiver ran through her body at the sensation of Nick's fingers against her bare flesh. She had a hard time concentrating on what Marco was saying as she felt Nick's thumbs caressing her sides. It wasn't until she heard Marco ask if anyone had any questions that she realized she'd barely heard a word he'd said. She stepped away from Nick and turned around to face him feeling a little flustered. "If I drown, it's your fault."

Nick looked at her a bit quizzically, not quite picking up on the effect that his simple touch was having on her. It finally dawned on him that he was the reason that she was in such a state and he let out a chuckle as a grin spread across his face. "I'm sorry, but I think you're irresistible." To emphasize his point, he slid his arms around her waist and softly kissed her before pulling back and looking into her eyes with an impish grin on his face. "Just follow me and you'll be fine." He gestured towards the water where the others were beginning to follow after Marco.

They pulled their masks down, put their snorkels in their mouths and slipped into the water and followed the others.

Sara didn't think she'd ever seen anything that looked so surreal, and while she was paying attention to the scenery in the cavern, Nick was paying more attention to Sara in her swimsuit. When the group finally emerged from the water some time later, Nick couldn't stop staring at Sara. He didn't think he'd ever seen a more sexy sight that a soaking wet Sara Sidle.

She glanced up and caught him looking and a smirk broke out on her face as she stepped out of her swim fins and walked over towards him. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to stare?"

He had mischief dancing in his eyes as he regarded her. "She also told me that I should always admire beauty."

She was standing in front of him now and couldn't keep from grinning. "Did she now?"

Nick just nodded. "Yeah, she did."

Sara was giving some serious thought to kissing Nick for all she was worth because the image of him standing in front of her soaking wet was testing her self-restraint.

However, before either one of them could say or do anything else, Ned interrupted them. "Wasn't that absolutely amazing?" He looked like a kid in a candy store and if the way he was holding onto Carla's hand was any indication, Gina was nothing more than a faint memory at this point.

"Yeah." Sara had a wide smile on her face as she turned towards Ned. "I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that."

"Uh, so I was going to see, actually, Carla and I wanted to know if you two would like to join us for dinner later. I hear that they're having live music and dancing in the plaza tonight and it might be kind of fun." Ned was clearly having a good time.

"That sounds like fun." Nick answered, slinging and arm over Sara's shoulders. "What do you say, Sar?"

"Sure." Sara couldn't help but smile and slide an arm around Nick's waist. "I'd love to." The idea of dancing with Nick was very appealing, and she had just the dress to wear in her suitcase.

"Ok, then." Carla interjected. "Do you want us to meet you there or at our hotel?"

"Why don't we just meet you there?" Nick suggested since Parque Benito Juarez wasn't that far from their hotel.

"It's a plan." Ned seemed very comfortable with Carla and in the back of Nick's mind he wondered if there was a little more to the story about their relationship than just the fact that they'd attended medical school together.

After they'd emerged from the cavern, Nick and Sara walked hand in hand towards the bus. Nick couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Sara this happy, and he was suddenly thankful that his buddy had backed out of this trip at the last minute. He was definitely going to have to thank him for that, and maybe he'd just have to throw in a season ticket package to something to emphasize the point.


	16. Chapter 16

Juan Carlos was waiting alongside his taxi as the bus pulled up. He waved and smiled broadly at Nick and Sara as they stepped out of the bus and waved them over.

"Hey, Juan Carlos." Nick greeted with a smile.

"Nick and Sara, I see you had a fabulous time. Javi took good care of you?" Juan Carlos had taken a liking to the pair and for whatever reason he had decided that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure they had a good time in Cozumel.

"We had a great time." Sara began to tell him about the strange sensation of swimming where stalactites and stalagmites surrounded her and how eerie and surreal it was.

"Ah, I am how do you say in English not fond of small size?" Juan Carlos confessed a bit sheepishly.

Nick and Sara looked at each other quizzically for a moment before Sara realized what he was talking about. "Oh, claustrophobic."

"Ah, yes, closet photo." Juan Carlos grinned and neither Nick nor Sara decided to correct him.

They were back at their hotel in no time at all, and after paying the fare they bid Juan Carlos goodbye and headed up to their room.

As he closed the door behind them, Nick couldn't help but smile at Sara whose clothes were damp from her swimsuit and were clinging to her body.

Sara crossed her arms over her chest and felt a little self-conscious. "What?"

"You look really beautiful." Nick stepped towards her and tucked a damp curl behind her ear. After spending several hours snorkeling with her and seeing how she looked in that swimsuit, nothing could convince him that she wasn't beautiful.

She smirked. "I look like a drowned rat."

Nick shook his head. "No you don't." To emphasize his point, he leaned down and kissed her softly, taking his time to savor the taste of her lips.

Sara let herself get lost in the sensation of that kiss, her arms drifted around Nick's neck and she let out a soft moan as she allowed him to deepen the kiss. Neither one of them was thinking very clearly as they unconsciously moved towards the bed. Nick was making quick work of the buttons on Sara's blouse and all Sara could think about was what Nick's chest had looked like while they were snorkeling. Even after they'd tumbled onto the bed still kissing madly, Sara didn't put up any protest for where this seemed to be heading.

Taking her lack of resistance as his cue to take things a little further, Nick reached for the zipper on her shorts. It wasn't until the zipper was down and Nick began to plant a trail of kisses down Sara's neck that a sudden wave of panic hit her.

"Nick." There was a waver in Sara's voice. "Nick."

A thick fog had clouded Nick's mind and it took hearing his name a couple of times before he stopped to look at her. The expression on her face stopped him cold and he furrowed his brow hoping that he hadn't pushed things too far. "Yeah."

Sara looked worried as she lay there with her blouse open revealing her swimsuit. She nervously nibbled at her lower lip as she looked up at him with her brows knit together. "This probably isn't the best time to bring this up."

"What is it?" He wanted her in the worst way and if she was putting the brakes on here, he was going to have to go take a very cold shower.

"We, uh, that is you…you don't have any protection, do you?" She looked at him wide-eyed.

The fact that she seemed to think that they needed it only furthered Nick's excitement. He was definitely going to have to take that cold shower. He shook his head. "No, I don't."

Sara looked disappointed and relieved all at the same time. "We should stop then." There was a part of her that wanted to throw all caution to the wind and get swept up in the moment and then there was another part of her that was very practical and realistic. In the end practicality won out.

Nick nodded in agreement and rolled onto his back. "I'm sorry." He wasn't sure if he should suggest he run right out to the pharmacy, or if they needed to talk more about this.

Sara answered the question for him as she rolled onto her side,rested her hand on his chest and looked into his eyes. "Don't be."

Nick searched her eyes. "Are you sure?" He knew exactly how he felt about her, but he really didn't want to push her into this step until she was ready.

"I think so." She studied his expression. Her body wanted him in the worst way, but her mind was lagging behind trying to analyze every possible scenario and determine if they took this step now what the consequences of it were going to be when they got back to Vegas.

Nick let out a deep sigh and smiled at her, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear. "We have plenty of time, Sara." That was Nick; noble to a fault.

Sara furrowed her brow. "I'm sorry I ruined the moment." Sometimes she wished that she could just shut off the rational part of her brain.

Nick shook his head. "You didn't ruin the moment, Sar."

For some reason, Sara felt the need to explain. "I want this, Nick." Her voice was soft and intense. "I want you." There was a hint of hesitation in her tone. "I just want to enjoy being with you without worrying about..."

"Sara, you don't need to explain." Nick smiled reassuringly at her. "I understand. I don't think either one of us wants to become an accidental parent."

Sara let out a nervous laugh at the line of conversation. "I'm not sure I want to be a parent at all; I really don't think I'd be a very good one."

"I don't think anyone thinks they'd be very good at it until they have to do it." He had a furrowed brow and seemed to be thinking about something, but just as quickly his clouded expression faded. "At least that's what my sisters tell me."

"Maybe we should get ready to meet Ned and Carla." Sara really didn't want to get into a deep discussion about families. Nick didn't know about her parents and she didn't think she wanted to tell him just yet.

Nick smirked at her. "Well then, I'm going to start with a really cold shower."

Sara let out a deep throaty laugh. "I think that might be a good idea." She smiled at him, her eyes locking with his. "At least for the time being."

Nick studied her for a moment and then slid his fingers into her hair as he turned towards her and gave her a soft sensuous kiss before pulling back and whispering. "I love you."

She smiled at him. "I know you do." She wanted to let go and give him her heart completely, but it was another one of those baby steps that felt like giant leaps off of a cliff. In the back of her mind she determined that she needed to tell him exactly how she felt, she just had to find the right moment.


	17. Chapter 17

Nick and Sara were greeted with quite the sight when they finally found Ned and Carla seated at a table outside the restaurant they'd agreed to meet at. Apparently, Ned and Carla had already been there for a while because they were looking rather relaxed and comfortable; so relaxed and comfortable that they couldn't seem to keep their hands or lips off of each other.

Nick cleared his throat. "We can come back if this is a bad time."

Ned and Carla broke apart looking rather flustered and Ned pasted a wide smile on his face. "I guess we didn't realize it was already time to meet you guys."

Sara did her best to keep from smirking as Carla smoothed her hair out. "Uh, we're a little late actually."

Ned looked at his watch. "I guess you are." He glanced at Carla and smiled.

Carla gestured to Nick and Sara. "Sit down, uh, we were waiting until you got here to order."

Nick and Sara exchanged a knowing glance. They'd had difficulty getting out of their hotel room also. After taking an excruciatingly cold shower, Nick had donned a pair of dark slacks and a white button down shirt. He had lounged on the bed for what seemed like an eternity as Sara took her sweet time getting ready in the bathroom. When she'd finally emerged, Nick had been rendered speechless. The simple black dress she was wearing hugged her in all the right places and she'd managed to put her hair up, leaving a few tendrils curling down around her face. It had been extremely tempting to just pick right back up where they'd left off before his cold shower, but after a few long deep kisses, they finally left the room. A side trip to a pharmacy that had closed thirty minutes before had left them both feeling a bit frustrated at the fact that they were apparently going to have to wait a little while longer.

Despite the interesting start to their dinner, the four were soon engaged in lively conversation and Ned and Carla spilled the beans about how well they knew each other. Apparently at one point in med school they had dated rather seriously, but when Ned got an internship on the West Coast and Carla got one on the East Coast, they had gone their separate ways. Needless to say, running into each other had rekindled the romance.

"So she tells our professor that the reason that her paper was late was because she was doing a field materials test on his lecture topic the previous day." Ned smirked at Carla.

She had a faint blush in her cheeks but laughed as she continued the story for Nick and Sara. "Of course he wanted to know what allergy test for latex I could possibly do outside of a lab considering that's where all of our samples were tested."

"And she answered him with a completely straight face." Ned looked like he was about ready to bust out laughing.

"I don't think that I've ever seen a professor turn that shade of red when they weren't angry." Carla had a smug look on her face as she took a sip of wine.

Ned looked at Nick and Sara curiously. "So exactly how did you two meet?"

"Throwing dummies off a building." They replied in unison and then started to laugh as they looked at each other.

Nick cleared his throat. "Actually, I was the one throwing the dummies off the building. Sara had just come out to Vegas from San Francisco at the request of our boss and I met her where the dummies landed."

"And that was some nice tossing by the way." Sara smirked at him.

"Thank you." He smirked right back with a wink.

Carla leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. "So how did the two of you get together?"

Nick and Sara exchanged a glance and color immediately began to infuse Sara's cheeks. Nick cleared his throat and let out a nervous laugh. "Actually, it sort of happened on this trip."

Ned looked surprised. "Seriously?"

Nick nodded and then reached for Sara's hand. "We've been friends for four and a half years and so when a friend of mine cancelled on me I asked workaholic Sara if she wanted to come. A broken water pipe in the second room we'd rented and well, I guess as they say, the rest is history."

Sara looked at Nick for a long moment. "I'm pretty sure that both of us had ulterior motives for this trip."

"I _know_ that we both had ulterior motives for this trip." Nick squeezed her hand.

"And here I thought you two were on the verge of getting engaged or something." Ned laughed out in surprise.

Nick laughed nervously.

"Uh, should we get another bottle of wine?" Sara quickly volunteered, looking a little flustered. She hadn't even been able to tell Nick just how deep her feelings for him went yet, not to mention the other issue that had come up. Marriage was not even on her radar screen.

Nick squeezed her hand and offered her a reassuring look that communicated so much more than words could have. He was not about to push her to do anything she wasn't ready for and while in the back of his mind he could see them together for the rest of their lives, she just wasn't there yet.

"Sorry about that." Ned offered with a friendly smile and then gestured out into the plaza where couples were dancing to music that a band was playing. "What do you say we square up here and get out and dance?"

"That sounds like a plan." Nick agreed with a smile. He was definitely looking forward to dancing with Sara.

"Uh, I think I'm going to go use the ladies room." Sara whispered to Nick. While she hadn't had any issues with her stomach all day, she was suddenly feeling a little queasy.

Both Ned and Carla kicked into doctor mode as they regarded the expression on Sara's face and they exchanged a glance. Carla stood up with a smile. "I think I'll come with you."

As they made their way to the ladies room inside the restaurant, Carla looked at Sara with concern. "Are you feeling ok? Ned said you've been pretty sick."

Sara nodded even as she grimaced. "Yeah, I just think maybe I should have taken something before we left, but we, uh, well, I think I have something in my purse."

"Maybe you shouldn't have gone snorkeling. That's pretty strenuous for someone who's been as dehydrated as you were." Carla offered.

"I'm sure I'll be fine." Sara countered as she found the Immodium and swallowed it without the benefit of water.

"Just be careful if you plan to do anything strenuous." Carla couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and smirk.

"I'll keep that in mind." Sara felt her cheeks flush at the inference. "I'll just be another minute if you want to go out there and dance with Ned."

"I can wait." Carla smiled and began to touch up her makeup as she waited for Sara. By the time they returned to the table, the guys had paid the bill and looked anxious to get out and dance.

As Nick took Sara into his arms and they began to sway to a slow song that was playing, he whispered in her ear. "You look so beautiful, Sara."

"Thanks. You look pretty good too." She was feeling slightly intoxicated by the mixture of the wine they'd had with dinner and being in Nick's arms. The simple touch of his hand at the small of her back was sending shivers of pleasure throughout her body.

Nick wasn't sure how he'd gotten so lucky to be with a woman like Sara and as they danced he couldn't resist holding her close and whispering endearments in her ear.

They had danced for quite a while and had lost track of Ned and Carla who they assumed had ended up going back to their hotel when they finally decided to take a little break and walk around the perimeter of the plaza. They hadn't gone far when Sara stopped abruptly.

Nick looked at her quizzically.

"I just have to tell you something. I've been trying to find the perfect moment all evening and I think I just need to tell you." Sara sounded flustered.

For a moment Nick felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he studied her expression to see what it was that she might want to tell him.

"It's just that..." She faltered for a moment before continuing. "What I'm trying to say is...I..." She swallowed hard and locked eyes with Nick. "I'm in love with you too."


	18. Chapter 18

As the words registered in Nick's mind all he could do was grin. He had hoped that her feelings went as deep as his, but he really didn't think that she was ready to say those words. How wrong he was.

Sara smiled. "I love you." It seemed that once it was out it was much easier to say.

"I love you." Nick whispered just before he slid his arms around her waist and kissed her.

They stood there on the edge of the plaza trading soft kisses, oblivious to the crowds of people mingling and dancing around them. As far as either of them was concerned at that moment, they were the only ones in Cozumel.

When they finally pulled apart with dopey grins on their faces, Nick whispered. "Do you want to dance some more?"

Sara shook her head. She had a wistful expression on her face. "Not really." She had something else entirely on her mind and she was seriously considering throwing all caution to the wind.

Nick had a mischievous expression on his face. "I have a secret." He could tell where her mind was because his was there too.

Sara tilted her head slightly and regarded him curiously.

Nick leaned in and whispered something into her ear.

Sara's eyes widened both from shock and a bit of embarrassment, but even that didn't diminish her excitement at what Nick had told her.

Nick leaned down and whispered again. "Just think of it as part of your recovery; a doctor trying to help out a patient."

"I can't believe you told him." Sara smirked at him.

"I didn't; he sort of offered since he'd made a rather large purchase of them today." Nick looked amused and excited all at the same time.

"Can I ask you a question?" Sara considered the information he'd just told her and then considered that they were still standing in the plaza holding each other while people milled around them.

"Yes." Nick leaned over and kissed her jaw line.

Her voice dropped to a thick sultry tone. "Don't you think we should go back to the hotel?"

Nick let out a deep throaty chuckle. "Well, Sara, are you trying to tell me something?"

Sara giggled. "If I have to spell it out for you, we're in trouble."

"You're sure you're up for this." Nick wanted to be sure that she was sure.

Sara looked at him with a glint of mischief in her eyes. "Oh, I'm definitely up for it, the question is, are you?"

Nick leaned over and spoke in a husky growl in her ear. "Let me remind you who took the cold shower earlier."

The flirtatious banter continued all the way back to the hotel and it wasn't until they were ascending the steps to their room that the realization of the line they were going to cross hit Sara and she started to feel apprehensive.

As they stepped into the room and Nick closed the door, a wave of nerves washed over Sara, and as he stood be hind her and his hands came to rest on her shoulders and he leaned down to kiss the back of her neck, Sara stiffened.

"What's wrong?" Nick's tone was gentle.

"I'm scared." There was a slight waver in her voice.

Nick tried to reassure her. "Sara, it's just me." He turned her around to face him. "We don't have to do this." He was disappointed, but he loved her and he didn't want their first time together to be awkward or something that they'd both regret.

Sara shook her head. "No, I want to do this." She looked up into his eyes. "I want you. This is just scary and I feel like I'm stepping off a cliff."

Nick confessed softly. "That's a pretty good description of how I feel too."

Sara's eyes widened in surprise. "You're scared too?"

Nick nodded and stroked her cheek with his fingertips. "Yeah."

"Why?" Her brow was furrowed and she was suddenly more concerned with his fear than with her own.

Nick chuckled softly. "Because it's you and I love you and I'm sure that there are some people who would say that I'm not good enough for you."

"Nick." Sara reached up and cupped his cheek, looking into his eyes intently. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me." With that she leaned in and kissed him and the nerves she'd been feeling just sort of faded to the background as she felt him return the kiss.

As they broke apart a few moments later, Nick looked into her eyes. "You're sure about this."

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure." She lightly kissed him and then pulled back. "I just want to change though if that's ok."

Nick looked at her quizzically.

Sara laughed nervously. "This dress was kind of hard to get into and I'm pretty sure it won't be that easy to get out of." A faint blush hued her cheeks. "Besides, I want to feel sexy, not awkward." She looked at him imploringly.

"Sure. Yeah." He smiled at her and then leaned down and softly kissed her. "I'll slip into something a little more comfortable too."

Sara giggled at his remark and moved towards the bathroom, realizing that's where she'd left her suitcase. "I'll just be a minute."

"Take your time." Nick's smile belied his anxiousness. He really hoped that Sara didn't take long at all.

The pajamas that Sara had never intended Nick to see were now the very garment that she was planning on wearing. It took her a few minutes to wrestle out of her dress and then don the lacy pajamas, which were really just a camisole and a lacy pair of boy shorts.

She ran her fingers through her hair to make sure she'd removed all of the bobby pins she'd used to put her hair up and then took a deep breath before opening the bathroom door.

While Sara had been busy changing, Nick had been busy doing something to create a little ambiance in the small room. He had dimmed the lights and turned down the bed where he was now reclining in nothing but a pair of boxers. Nick drank in her appearance and arched a single brow at her as she emerged from the bathroom. "Are these the pajamas you didn't want me to see?" He was definitely a fan of lace and he didn't think he'd ever seen a woman look sexier than Sara did right then.

Sara nodded and smiled at him as she walked over to the bed and crawled onto it next to him.

"I like this." He fingered the strap on the camisole before trailing his fingers down her arm.

Sara leaned in and softly kissed him before pulling away and smiling at him. "I like your ensemble too." She arched her brows and smirked.

Nick whispered in a conspiratorial tone. "As much as I like your outfit, I have a feeling I'm going to like what's underneath it even better."

Sara giggled and then noticed a dozen or so packets sitting on the bedside table. She let out a loud snort of a laugh. "Just how many of those did he give you?"

Nick slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close. "I think he thinks we need to make up for lost time and I agree."

Sara's hands were splayed out against his chest and she had a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Do you think that'll be enough?"

Nick had an impish grin on his face. "For tonight." He leaned and kissed her, smiling as Sara giggled against his lips and they gave themselves over to the sweet blissful moment.


	19. Chapter 19

Light was filtering in through the blinds as Sara stirred from sleep. As she blinked her eyes open a smile stole over her face at Nick's sleeping form next to her. She rolled onto her side to face him, hugging the blankets around her body as she studied his face. His eyelashes fanned out across his cheeks and she had a fleeting thought that it seemed unfair that men seemed to always be blessed with such long, thick lashes. His brow was relaxed and he looked so peaceful. Sara studied his strong jaw line, covered now with several days worth of bearded growth. She had to admit that the facial hair just added to how sexy she found him. And his lips; Sara's smiled widened as she studied his lips. They were so soft and gentle and yet so strong. The memory of what those lips had done the night before caused her to let out a contented sigh.

Her gaze traveled down to his hands and she thought about all of the things she'd seen him do with those hands over the course of working together for almost five years. And then she thought about how those hands had made her feel, and she reasoned that she wasn't sure she wouldn't blush just looking at his hands from now on.

As her gaze drifted to the bedside table, she smirked. They had come nowhere near using up all of the packets Ned had given Nick, but the mere idea that he wanted her that much had made her feel desired and desirable in a way she hadn't felt in longer than she could remember. After the second time, they'd fallen asleep tangled up in each other's arm feeling sated and content.

He still looked content and Sara wondered if she should wake him, or just let him sleep. It was so tempting to just reach over and trace his features with the tips of her fingers and as if they had a mind of their own, that's just what she did.

Nick began to stir and the edges of his mouth curved upwards in a sleepy smile as his eyes slowly opened. "Morning."

"Morning." Sara leaned in and softly kissed him before pulling back and smiling at him.

Nick couldn't resist reaching over and tucking her hair behind her ear, trailing his fingers down her jaw and coming to rest on her chin before leaning in and kissing her. After several satisfying moments, he broke off the kiss and smiled at her again. "Did you sleep ok?" Again he tucked a stubborn curl behind her ear.

"Yeah, I did." Sara scooted closer to him and caressed his cheek. "I like this on you." She brushed her thumb over the stubble on his chin.

He arched his brows at her and chuckled. "It's not so bad after the first few days."

She pursed her lips and trailed her fingers along his jaw. "It is soft, but I was thinking more about how sexy you look." She looked into his eyes and felt her heart flip at the desire she saw reflected in them.

He reached up and gathered her hand in his, kissing her palm. "You look pretty damn sexy yourself."

Sara's eyes flitted from his eyes to his mouth and back again. "What do you think we should do today?" At the moment she really wasn't that interested in doing anything that required that she move more than a few inches.

Nick's eyes danced with mischief as he kissed her wrist. "Oh, I was thinking that maybe we could take a ferry to Tulum and see the ruins there. Or I thought that you might want to go parasailing."

Sara snorted out a giggle. "Parasailing?"

"Or swimming with dolphins." Nick knew that she liked dolphins and they had discussed the possibility of doing just that. He kissed a little further up her arm.

Sara scooted a little closer to Nick. "Dolphins?" As much as the idea appealed to her, she was more interested at that moment in what Nick's lips were doing to her arm.

"Yeah." He winked. "You like dolphins." He laced his fingers with hers and brought her hand up to his chest.

Sara decided to just play along and tease him herself. "I do." She had a thoughtful expression on her face as Nick moved to kiss her. Just before his lips connected with hers, Sara propped herself up on her elbow and Nick's lips landed on her shoulder. "I think we should go swimming with the dolphins." She smiled at him as genuinely as she could even as amusement danced in her eyes.

"Oh, you do, do you?" Nick arched his brows.

Sara put the most serious expression she could muster on her face. "If we leave now, we can beat the crowds." She moved to sit up, holding the blankets around herself.

Nick let out a scoff as he looked at the clock next to the bed and then back at her. "It's seven in the morning." He wasn't ready to get out of bed just yet, but it really wasn't sleep that he was interested in.

Sara let out a disappointed sigh and tried to hide her smirk. "Well, I guess that means we have a little more time to sleep." She lay back down and closed her eyes, unable to hide the tiny smile that tugged at the edges of her mouth.

Nick had finally caught on to what she was doing and he scooted next to her so that his body was flush against hers underneath the blankets. "I am tired." He rested his head on the pillow so that his lips were just a fraction of an inch from her cheek and closed his eyes.

Sara tried to stifle a giggle as Nick slid his arm across her waist. "Comfy?"

"Mmhmm." Nick smiled at the sensation of Sara's soft skin against his and he couldn't resist caressing her hip with his fingers.

Sara giggled.

Nick feigned annoyance. "I'm trying to sleep here, can you keep it down a little?"

Sara turned to face him and rested a hand on his shoulder as she leaned in and kissed him. "I don't want to."

Nick pulled her closer as he opened his eyes. "Hmm, well if you won't let me sleep, I'm not sure what to do with you."

Sara arched her brows suggestively. "I have a few ideas." She let out a husky laugh as she angled her lips towards his.

Nick feigned surprise. "A few?"

She slid her hand up his shoulder and cupped the back of his head, her fingers lightly scratching the nape of his neck as she spoke in a husky whisper. "Ok, I was thinking of one thing in particular."

Nick's laugh reverberated through his chest. "Oh, really?"

"Umhum." Sara leaned in and kissed him hungrily, letting out a sigh as Nick's fingers tangled in her hair.

As they broke the kiss, Nick couldn't help but smile at her. "I love you."

"I love you too." Sara whispered back.

Neither one of them was thinking about dolphins, or parasailing, or sleeping for that matter as Nick rolled Sara onto her back and leaned down and kissed her deeply, both of them completely giving themselves over to the moment.


	20. Chapter 20

By the time Nick and Sara got up for the day it was well past breakfast and closing in on lunchtime. They might have lounged in bed all day if it hadn't been for the fact that the hotel cleaning crew hadn't seen a 'do not disturb' sign on the door and had walked in at a rather inopportune moment. To say that Sara was completely mortified was an understatement as she clutched the blankets around herself. Nick had taken things a little more in stride and had just waved as the very embarrassed maids had profusely apologized in Spanish before retreating and closing the door behind them. With the mood effectively killed, they decided to get out of bed and get a quick shower before seeing what else the town of San Miguel had to offer.

"It was a little funny." Nick smirked as he and Sara walked towards the plaza where they planned to get something to eat for lunch before heading to the dock where they could make a reservation to swim with the dolphins.

"No, it wasn't." Sara had a faint hue of pink coloring her cheeks. Her embarrassment at the situation was still a little fresh in her mind for her to want to laugh about it.

"But you should have seen the look on your face." Nick had found the entire situation amusing.

"Nick, you weren't the one flashing the maids." She was doing her best to sound mad, but it wasn't working all that well.

Nick waggled his eyebrows at her. "Well you were flashing me too, but I was kind of enjoying it."

Sara giggled and nudged him in the ribs as he slung his arm over her shoulder. "Next time, just put the sign on the door."

"Oh, you can bet I will." Nick smirked as they neared a café. "You want to stop in here?"

Sara took in the slightly run down exterior and then noted the crowd inside and the delicious aroma wafting out through the open door and nodded. "Yeah. I didn't realize how hungry I was."

Nick puffed his chest out a little bit. "I guess I did tire you out a little bit." He sounded pretty pleased with himself.

Sara crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head slightly as she scoffed. "I'm dating a horny teenage boy."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." His eyes were dancing with amusement as he leaned over and kissed her chastely. "Now let's get something to eat, you're going to need more energy for later."

Sara stopped abruptly and just looked at him with a furrowed brow as if something had just occurred to her.

"What?" Nick felt a sinking feeling as he regarded her expression.

Sara let out a deep sigh. "Is that what this is going to be?" Her insecurity was rearing its ugly head again.

"Huh?" Nick was thrown for a loop. One minute they were having a good time and the next he had no idea what she was talking about.

Sara spoke to him in hushed tones as people walked past them "This relationship. Is this just going to be about sex?" She looked almost ashamed to be asking, but she just wanted to be sure that they were in this for the same reasons.

Nick looked hurt at the suggestion, but he could sense the fear in her voice and so he reached out and caressed her cheek with his fingers. "Sara, I'm in love with you." He stepped towards her and pulled her into his arms as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "And as amazing as last night and this morning were, I love you for a whole lot more than sex."

Sara whispered back. "I'm just scared, Nick." There was a lot left unspoken that she knew he understood about other men that had either been emotionally unavailable or had simply used her. And then there was the overblown reputation that Nick had garnered when she'd first met him. Greg had made what he referred to as Nick's flavor of the month legendary water cooler gossip.

"I know, Sara, I'm scared too." He smiled as she melted against him as they stood on the sidewalk outside the café. "But I just want you to know that I fell in love with you because of who you are and how much fun I have when I'm with you. You're one of my best friends; you can trust me."

Sara stomach started to grumble rather loudly bringing a bit of levity to the moment and she started to giggle.

Nick couldn't help but laugh also. "Now what do you say we go get something to eat and then find out when we can swim with the dolphins?" He rubbed her back reassuringly.

Sara pulled out of his embrace and smiled at him. "Thank you."

Nick wore an 'awe shucks' expression on his face and leaned down to kiss her briefly. "You're welcome."

They found a table in the fairly crowded café and were soon devouring plates of food that Sara was fairly sure would give some curves to her willowy frame if she made a habit of it.

Nick watched her with amusement as she seemed to take pleasure out of every bite of food. "That good, huh?" He winked as she caught on to the teasing tone in his voice.

She smirked at him. "Well somebody told me I needed to have some energy for later." As much as she didn't want their relationship to be about sex, she certainly wasn't against enjoying it with plenty of gusto. And judging from Nick's performance earlier, he was thoroughly enjoying himself too.

Nick chuckled and decided to explain himself given their conversation outside the café. "I just thought maybe we might want to go swimming or biking, I wasn't inferring that _all_ of our activities had to be naked ones." He arched his brows suggestively at that last comment and did a poor job of stifling a snicker with a bite of his food as he watched Sara's cheeks get a little pinker.


	21. Chapter 21

As they stood on the dock watching other tourists preparing to swim with dolphins, Sara couldn't help but smile. So much had changed over the course of the last week and with only a few more days left in Cozumel, she wasn't sure she wanted it all to end. They hadn't really talked about the implications of their relationship on work when they returned to Vegas, but then a lot of things in that area had been changing already since it had become public knowledge that Catherine and Warrick were seeing each other. She reasoned that the fact that they were still seeing each other just made it that much easier for her and Nick and her smile widened a bit.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Nick was grinning like a kid at Christmas as he watched as one after another people slipped into the water, following the instructions of the proprietor as they patted dolphins swimming past them in the small lagoon.

"Yeah." Sara let out a sigh of contentment and looked over at him, studying his profile. The beard he'd been growing softened the strong line of his jaw and she noticed that when he smiled, he had crinkles in his face. He must have smiled a lot growing up and at that thought she felt a bit of a pang that her childhood had been less than ideal. She briefly wondered if Nick would still love her if he knew her secret, and she let out another sigh as she resolved that she needed to tell him. She wanted him to love her, but she wanted him to love her for all of who she was, not just some of the pieces.

If Nick noticed the faraway look on Sara's face, he didn't say anything about it just then. He simply slipped an arm around her waist and spoke softly in her ear. "So I was thinking, since we can't do this until tomorrow, why don't we rent a couple of mopeds and see a little more of the island, maybe we can stop by a pharmacy and stock up on a few things for later."

His last comment elicited a giggle from Sara and she looked into his eyes. "Are you always going to be this horny?" She arched her brows at him suggestively.

Nick smirked. "Well, when we get back to Vegas, I'll try and keep things under control while we're at work, but I can't guarantee I won't haul you off into the janitor's closet to have my way with you now and then if we get stuck working too many doubles."

Sara snorted out a guffaw. "Nick, have a little class. The backseat of my Denali is more comfortable and a lot more private."

Nick had to look at her a good long moment to tell whether or not she was kidding.

Sara giggled. "Gotcha."

"Ok, seriously. Work is work and after that, all bets are off." Nick leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"So where do we get these mopeds?" Sara looked at him inquisitively changing the subject for the time being.

Nick looked mischievous. "We could always stop by and ask Ned." A stolen moped was the very reason they'd met Ned in the first place.

Sara chuckled and nudged Nick in the ribs with her elbow. "Let's just ask him." She pointed to the man that they'd made their reservations with.

After a bit of confusing directions, heavy on the hand gestures, Nick and Sara finally found a place to rent mopeds. They made a quick detour to a pharmacy to pick up a few things, and Sara had to laugh at just how much Nick felt was necessary for the few remaining days they had left before they headed home. Once that task was complete, they did a leisurely exploration of the island, thankful that they'd thought to pick up a couple of disposable cameras to capture a few memories of their trip on. They followed the highway north until they came to Parque Punta Sur, a national wildlife refuge. They parked the mopeds and walked through the park coming upon El Caracol, an ancient Mayan lighthouse which was thought to be used as an early warning system for hurricanes. They spent a couple of hours exploring the park and taking in the history before they decided to head back to San Miguel and find something to eat for dinner.

Sara glanced over at Nick as they walked hand in hand to where they'd parked the mopeds. "I'm not sure I'm ready to go back to Vegas. I'm having too much fun with you."

Nick smiled. "There's nothing that says we can't have fun in Vegas." He squeezed her hand.

"That's not what I meant." She had a furrowed brow as she turned to face him. "I just don't have to share you with anyone here. When we get back, we'll have work and our friends..." Her voice trailed off as she watched him watch her.

Nick slid his arms around her waist. "I know. I'm not sure if I want to share you either." He leaned down and kissed her deeply, the mopeds momentarily forgotten.

Sara had a look on her face that Nick couldn't quite place when they broke the kiss. "Nick." She was feeling incredibly vulnerable and she knew that she was going to have to tell Nick about her family.

"Yeah?" He simply smiled, not wanting to show his own insecurity that her expression was producing inside of him.

Sara smiled. She didn't want to have this conversation here. As much as she wanted to tell him what was on her mind, she wasn't sure how he was going to react and so she reasoned that perhaps they should wait until they'd gotten back to the hotel. She leaned up and kissed him briefly, looking into his eyes as she pulled back. "I love you."

He grinned and let out a chuckle of relief. "I love you too."

They took their time getting back to San Miguel and they were both hungry by the time they returned the mopeds. After a quick stop for fish tacos on the boardwalk, something that seemed to have turned into a regular habit since they'd arrived in Cozumel, they walked back to their hotel to change their clothes and head out to get a real meal and maybe go dancing.

Nick was trying to decide between two shirts when he felt Sara's hand on his shoulder. He glanced up and smiled at her until he noticed the same expression on her face that he'd seen earlier. He immediately furrowed his brow. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Sara nibbled her lower lip nervously and just cut to the chase. "There's something that I really need to tell you. Something that I, well something that only my counselor and Grissom know, and..." There was a slight hitch in her voice as she noticed concern flicker across Nick's face.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me." A myriad of thoughts flashed through Nick's mind as to what big secret she had that she was afraid to tell him. He felt immediately protective of her and wrapped his arms around her.

Sara chuckled nervously even as she sniffled a little. "Can we just sit down?" She wasn't sure she was going to be able to get it all out if he held her like this. She wanted to tell him and then if he still wanted her, then she'd let him hold her; she'd need him to hold her. The memories had never stopped being painful.

They made their way over to the bed and Sara held onto Nick's hand as she curled herself up a little protectively as she reclined against the head board. She looked so small and vulnerable that suddenly Nick felt a rush of anger towards whoever had done something to her to make her so fearful.

"Sara, you can trust me." He looked at her intently.

Sara just nodded and took a deep breath as she began to tell him about what her life was like growing up in Tamales Bay culminating in the day her mother had killed her father and the subsequent shuffling around in the foster system until she'd gone off to Harvard.

As she talked, trying to keep her emotions at bay, Nick's expression moved from shock to hurt and then love for her as tears streamed down his face. When she finished, he pulled her into his arms and just held her, whispering to her how much he loved her. As much as he hurt for her, he also felt a strange sense of relief. He knew that she knew what it was like to be a victim, and for the first time since he'd met her, he decided he needed to garner the courage to tell her his secret too.


	22. Chapter 22

For the time being, dinner and dancing wasn't on either of their minds. Nick just held onto Sara for dear life as she finally let herself fall apart in his arms. As their tears mingled, Nick leaned down and kissed her softly. He knew that if he didn't tell her now that he wasn't sure when he was going to have the courage. He assumed that she had the impression that he'd had an idyllic childhood, having grown up the youngest of seven. And while for a large part of his life that was true, when he was nine years old everything changed, he changed.

Sara had stopped crying, her breaths hitching up a little as she tried to gain control over her emotions. And as scared as she had been to tell him about the hell she had grown up in, she felt relief that he hadn't gone anywhere, that he didn't seem to be going anywhere.

Nick looked at her with a furrowed brow and there was hesitation in his voice as he stroked her forehead with his fingertips. "Sara?"

Sara had never felt more exposed than she had at that moment and she felt doubt creeping in that maybe all of this really was too much for him to handle. Fear flickered across her face. "Yeah?" Her uncertainty was reflected in her voice.

"I just..." Nick felt fear welling up in the pit of his stomach. He just wasn't sure he could get it out, he wasn't sure she would still want him if she knew what someone had done to him. He took a deep breath and shoved the fear right back down. "I just need to say something."

A strangled sob caught in Sara's throat and she suddenly felt sick at the thought that he was going to reject her just then. "You don't want me." Her voice was barely a whisper.

Nick felt sick that she would even think that and he pulled her closer and whispered fiercely into her ear. "No, Sara, it's not that, it's nothing like that. I love you. You hear me? I love you. I want to be with you more than anything. I love you."

As his words sank into her mind, she began to relax a little and she pulled back to look in his eyes. "I was just so afraid that once you knew about my family that you wouldn't want me anymore."

Nick shook his head. "Sara, I love you. Nothing in your past is going to change that."

"I'm sorry." Sara felt badly that she had doubted him, she'd known him for over four years and he'd never given her a reason to think that he'd judge her because of something that someone else had done to her. His reputation for being empathetic to victims should have underscored that.

Nick looked at her intently for a long moment before he took another deep breath and began to speak again. "Sara, I have something I need to tell you." There was pain in his eyes as images from that horrible night flashed through his mind.

As Sara focused on his face, she reached up and touched his cheek. "Nick?" She could tell that something was weighing heavily on him.

Nick cracked a nervous smile and let out a soft chuckle as he tried to fight down emotions wanting to catch in his throat. "When you said that you were afraid that I wouldn't want you after you told me about your family." He paused and tried to collect his thoughts. "I knew what you were feeling." He could see recognition on her face.

She trailed her fingers down the side of his cheek and furrowed her brows. "Oh, Nick, what happened?" She knew that look, it was the look that she'd seen on the faces of the families of victims and it was the look she'd seen reflected on her own face.

As Nick told her his story, about how he'd felt being violated by someone he was supposed to be able to trust, Sara could see the shame on his face, the shame that he had lived with a secret that in his world a man couldn't talk about. She felt her tears starting again, but this time they weren't for herself, they were for him, and she found herself holding onto him and tell him that she loved him much the same way that he had done to her.

They were both emotionally spent by the time he finished talking and by then the last thing that either one of them wanted was to leave the safety and sanctity of that hotel room. The secrets that they'd shared with one another had lent the room an atmosphere of intimacy and vulnerability that they weren't quite ready to let go of just yet.

They held onto each other, listening to the soft sound of breathing, soft touches turning into caresses, soft kisses deepening until the tenderness of the moment went beyond anything that either of them had ever experienced before. Lying there sated and content in each other's arms they drifted off to sleep safe and secure in the knowledge that the other knew their deepest darkest secret and loved them anyway.


	23. Chapter 23

Swimming with the dolphins was everything that Sara had thought it would be and more. Nick couldn't help but smile as he watched her interact with the dolphin assigned to them for their session. The trainer showed them hand signals to use to communicate and after a bit more instruction they spent time stroking and feeding the dolphin and then had a very memorable swim. The grace and power these gentle mammals had was a bit overwhelming and as Nick and Sara walked back to the hotel to get ready to meet up with Ned and Carla for lunch Sara couldn't seem to stop talking about the experience.

"And the way he kept putting his snout under my hand, I mean it was so amazing." Sara was literally gushing.

Nick chuckled and gave her hand a squeeze. "It was pretty amazing."

Ever since their revelations to each other the previous evening they had felt a connection between them that hadn't existed before. Sara had felt her insecurities fade away and she had found herself living in the moment and just enjoying Nick's company. Nick had found that her new found confidence made him feel more secure in this fledgling romantic relationship and couldn't stop smiling when he was around her.

As they neared the hotel, Sara glanced over at Nick. "Did you ever make sure that your credit card wasn't going to get charged for the other room we never got to use?"

Nick shook his head and smiled at her. "I guess I should check on that, now shouldn't I?"

Sara quirked an eyebrow mischievously. "Unless you want me to stay in that other room."

Nick pulled her against him, just outside the hotel lobby and dropped a quick kiss on her lips. "Not a chance."

As they approached the reception desk, the clerk glanced up and smiled. "Ah, Mr. Stokes, Ms. Sidle, you are having a lovely time?"

"Yes, wonderful, thank you." Sara grinned as Nick slipped an arm around her waist.

"Yes, but I have a question." Nick interjected. "When we checked in we were supposed to have a second room at some point."

The clerk glanced at the pair curiously. "Ah, yes, the broken pipe." He smiled widely. "It is fixed. You want the extra room now?"

Nick let out a soft chuckle. "Actually, no, the one room will be just fine. I was just going to see if I could get a refund on my credit card since we didn't get to use the other one."

The clerk smile got wider if that was possible. "It is all taken care of. No charge for you."

"Great. Thanks." Nick smiled back and then propelled Sara with him as they headed out towards their room. About halfway to the door, Nick stopped as if he had an idea. "Hey, I gonna go ask him if he can recommend a restaurant for dinner later."

"Ok, sure." Sara leaned up and kissed him softly. "I'm just going to go back to the room to get showered and changed."

"Kay." Nick smiled and then walked back to the front desk. As he approached, he overheard something that stopped him short.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Brown. Everything went according to plan. No, Mr. Stokes knows nothing. We told him that a pipe broke." The clerk chuckled. "No, when I offered, he made it very clear they would only be needing the one room." A short pause. "Yes, nice doing business with you too. Adios."

Nick backed up so the clerk wouldn't notice him and then walked out of the lobby and headed up to the hotel room. He was sure that Sara was going to find this little tidbit of information just as interesting as he did, that is as long as he could spit it out. He couldn't believe that Warrick would go to that much trouble to get the two of them together. Wouldn't it have been far simpler to just tell them both that he thought they had the hots for each other?

Sara glanced up as Nick entered the room. "That was quick. What did he say?"

Nick looked a little dazed. "I didn't ask."

Sara quirked an eyebrow at him and noticed his facial expression. "You ok?"

Nick looked at her concern and then smiled, letting out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah. But Warrick might not be when we get back."

"Huh?" Sara looked at little confused.

Nick smirked. "I overheard the clerk talking about us on the phone to a Mr. Brown." He raised his eyebrows to emphasize his point.

Sara's eyes widened.

"Yeah." Nick nodded. "It seems our friend Warrick arranged for the 'broken pipe' so we'd have to share a room."

Sara started to snicker. "I can't believe him."

Nick snorted out a laugh. "I think he even went so far as to rent the room so that he could guarantee it wouldn't be available."

Sara just shook her head in disbelief. "You know we have to pay him back."

Nick looked at her oddly. "For the room?"

Sara giggled. "No, for this whole elaborate scheme of his."

Nick stepped towards her. "So are you having second thoughts about sharing a room with me?"

Sara shook her head and stepped towards him, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders. "Not at all." She leaned up and softly kissed him, smiling as she pulled away. "But Warrick doesn't need to know that until we've had sufficient time to torture him."

Nick slid his arms around her waist, a sly grin on his face. "Oh, what did you have in mind for him?"

Sara's arms went around his neck. "Hmm, I don't know, but I'm sure between the two of us we can come up with something."

An idea began to form in Nick's mind. "So when did we tell Ned we'd meet him and Carla?"

Sara let out a sultry laugh. "In about an hour and a half."

"Hmm, seems to me we don't have much time." Nick feigned concern.

"What? We have plenty of time." Sara giggled as she glanced over at the clock on the table next to the bed.

"Not for what I have in mind." He arched his brows suggestively.

"Mmmn, and just what was that?" Sara was quickly catching on as Nick began to shuffle them towards the bathroom.

"A plan to conserve water." Nick had a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Really?" Sara eyed his lips hungrily.

"Mmmhmm." Nick nodded.

"How environmentally conscious of you." Sara commented as she began to tug at his shirt.

Nick let her pull his shirt over his head and then reached into the shower and turned the water on with one hand as he began to unbutton the blouse that Sara wore over her swimsuit with the other. "I know how important that is to you."

"I appreciate it." Sara mumbled as Nick leaned down and kissed her.

"I thought you would." Nick slid Sara's shirt off of her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor behind her.

As steam clouded the bathroom and events unfolded in the shower, neither one of them was really paying attention to the fact that there was one little detail that they'd forgotten to cover.


	24. Chapter 24

Lunch with Ned and Carla was rather uneventful, that is until they were about ready to order dessert and Ned dropped the proverbial bombshell. "Carla and I are getting married."

Nick and Sara were momentarily dumbfounded. When they had met Ned several days before, he had been sad and lonely, off on his 'honeymoon' on his own while his bride to be had run off with their scuba instructor. After running into his former college sweetheart, however, Gina was not just a faint memory, she appeared to be ancient history.

Nick slapped Ned on the back. "Congratulations, man." Both he and Sara liked Carla and who were they to judge a lightning speed romance?

"Wow." Sara just smiled a bit incredulously. She had suspected after they'd spent some time with Ned and Carla that they were perfect for each other, but she had sort of assumed that after Ned's failed engagement that he'd take things slow; he just seemed like that kind of guy.

"So we were thinking next week in Vegas." Ned continued, glancing over at Carla who had amusement dancing in her eyes as she surveyed Nick and Sara.

"Vegas." Nick replied, the wheels turning in his mind. One thing he was learning about Ned was that when the guy figured something out, he didn't waste a hell of a lot of time doing something about it. His little gift to Nick a few nights ago was a case in point, without those little packets of 'sombreros' for 'little Nicky' he and Sara might not have had such a memorable vacation.

Carla's laugh was a soft lilt. "We didn't really want to wait, but we both have family that would kill us if they couldn't be there and after what Ned just went through, we decided to forego a huge wedding." She smiled and reached for Ned's hand. "Besides, Vegas is sort of in between and where else can you get married any time day or night?"

"Or by Elvis for that matter." Sara interjected with a smirk, glancing over at Nick as she remembered a case they'd investigated together earlier that year.

Nick's half-hearted chuckle wasn't exactly what Sara had expected for a reaction from him; his thoughts seemed to be somewhere else at the moment.

"Well I don't really care who marries us, as long as at the end of the day, Ned and I are together." Carla leaned in and gave Ned a soft kiss, smiling as she pulled away.

Ned had a grin on his face as he turned back to Nick and Sara. "You'll both come, won't you?"

"Definitely." Sara replied smiling. She squeezed Nick's hand as he still seemed to be slightly dazed.

Nick seemed to recover as he rejoined the conversation with a hearty chuckle. "Yeah, we may be pulling a double, but we'll be there regardless."

"Now about dessert." Ned had a conspiratorial look on his face. "I was thinking maybe we could all split one of those 'Towering Mayan Pyramids'."

"I might have left a little room." Nick patted his stomach and then glanced over at Sara. "But I'm sure Sara can help you out. She eats like a linebacker."

His comment earned him a smack on the arm and an embarrassed look from Sara. "Nick."

Nick snickered and leaned over and kissed Sara on the cheek. "Not that it shows. Sara's the sexiest woman I know."

With her cheeks a definite shade of pink, Sara smiled at Ned and Carla. "So where in Vegas were you thinking about getting married?"

Carla smiled at Sara changing the subject. "We haven't gotten that far, we just called our families a little earlier."

"And they are absolutely thrilled, even if we did take them a little by surprise." Ned was literally beaming.

The waiter arrived just then and Ned put in the order for the cake and ice cream concoction the restaurant was known for and left the two couples alone. When he returned about ten minutes later, all four of them had their eyes popping out of their heads.

Sara scoffed as she looked over at Nick. "I sure hope you're hungry, because I don't think I've ever seen a dessert that large."

Carla just giggled at Ned's determined expression as he regarded the colossal dessert.

Nick leaned over and whispered very softly in Sara's ear. "Maybe we could bring some of this back to the hotel room for later." His tone clearly implied that he wasn't thinking of eating in a traditional manner.

Sara smirked as she leaned over and whispered back, her voice a bit husky. "We've already had one shower today, I really think that would defeat your water conservation strategy."

Nick's laugh reverberated through his chest, garnering quizzical looks from Ned and Carla. He glanced at Sara briefly, noting her raised brows, before turning towards Ned and Carla, shaking his head. "Uh, just a little inside joke."

Ned nodded in understanding; he was glad that things seem to have blazed forward since he'd equipped Nick the other night. He had a feeling that the two of them might just be destined to be together the way he and Carla were, that it was only a matter of time.

The four of them managed to polish off about half of the Towering Mayan Pyramid and as they left the restaurant they went their separate ways. Ned and Carla went off to do a little shopping, while Nick and Sara deciding to go back to the hotel to change and then head off to one of the more secluded beaches for a little sunbathing.

An hour later, after renting a pair of mopeds, they were laying drowsily under the warm Mexican sun without another person as far as the eye could see. Juan Carlos had told them about this beach during their dinner at El Morro, telling them that it was very romantic and that they needed spend an afternoon there before they left Cozumel.

"Mmn, this is nice." Sara smiled with her eyes closed, not sure that she was looking forward to going home soon. She and Nick were lying on their stomachs on a large blanket they had borrowed from their hotel room.

Nick leaned over and kissed Sara's shoulder. "This _is_ nice."

Sara smirked at him as she opened her eyes.

Nick quirked an eyebrow as he slid a hand across her back, his fingers playing at the tie to her bikini top. "I was thinking..."

She let out a giggle.

"We could sure send Greg's mind spinning if you didn't have any tan lines when we got back." Nick waggled his eyebrows and pulled the end of one of the ties, effectively undoing her top.

"Well unless I planned on being naked in front of Greg, which I don't, I'm not sure how he would find out." Sara didn't consider herself an exhibitionist, but at that moment Nick was filling her head with ideas as he reached up and released the tie around her neck.

"Hmm, well he could just take my word for it." Nick teased as he began to kiss a trail along her shoulder blade.

Sara arched a brow suggestively. "Now if _you_ didn't have any tan lines, now that would be something."

"I don't think Greg's interested in seeing _me_ naked." Nick teased as he slid a hand down to give her butt a little squeeze through the fabric of her bikini bottoms.

Sara had a sultry smile on her face as she regarded him. "Well _he_ doesn't know what he's missing."

**Author's Note:** Krys, the sombreros are for you. :-D


	25. Chapter 25

Before they really knew where the time had gone, Nick and Sara's trip to Cozumel was coming to an end. It was only fitting that Juan Carlos should be the one to drive them to the boat that they would take across the water to Cancun where they were going to catch their flight back to Vegas. As they stepped out of the taxi to unload their luggage, a smiling Juan Carlos made a comment that left both Nick and Sara blushing, but secretly hoping deep down that they would have every reason to do just what he asked.

As they stood on the deck of the ferry as it made it's way across to the mainland, Sara found herself leaning back against Nick's chest, smiling as he wrapped his arms around her. She took in the last little bits of this vacation wanting to impress it indelibly on her memory. She didn't want to forget a moment of this time she'd spent with Nick because she knew that no matter how many more trips they took together that there would never be another one quite like this one.

Too soon they were boarding their flight back to Vegas, and Sara let out a sigh, sad that it was time to go home.

Nick chuckled softly and reached over and took her hand, knowing where her thoughts had drifted. "And to think, you might not have come with me on this trip."

Sara smirked as she leaned towards him. "Remind me to thank your friend who backed out at the last minute."

Nick smiled broadly. "Oh, don't worry; I'm already planning to thank him. I just hope season tickets to the Cowboys is enough."

Sara's eyes widened and then she snorted out a laugh. "Season tickets to the Cowboys?" She was reasonably certain that they were some sort of football team, or maybe it was baseball, but in any case, she thought Nick was going a little overboard.

"Yeah." Nick replied settling himself in his seat a little more as he glanced over at her. His brows arched quizzically. "What? You don't think it's enough?"

Sara chortled. "Nick, those probably cost a fortune." She just shook her head in amusement.

Nick's tone was soft as he smiled at her. "And worth every penny; I get the better end of the deal. I get you."

Sara was momentarily dumbfounded and then as she realized that the Cowboys were indeed a football team, and Nick's absolutely favorite sport in the entire world, she felt a bit of emotion well up and her voice was a bit husky as she whispered. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." Nick leaned in and softly kissed her.

Sara smiled as he pulled away. "What do you think we should do to Warrick?"

Nick smiled conspiratorially. "That's a good question."

"Because you and I both know that he's going to have a smug look on his face as soon as we walk into that lab." Sara had a furrowed brow as she considered the possibilities.

Nick let out an amused laugh. "You know what would absolutely drive him crazy?"

"What?" Sara could tell he had a plan formulating in his mind, and from the look on his face, she could tell that it was good.

"Well, he's expecting us to come back joined at the hip." Nick smirked. "I mean the guy at the hotel assured him that you and I shared that room the entire time, but what if we get him to think that he wasted his money?"

Sara looked at him doubtfully. "You don't want him to know about us?" There was a hint of insecurity rearing up that maybe Nick really didn't want to be with her once they got back. This relationship would certainly complicate things at work, but she thought that they'd agreed that neither one of them really cared.

Nick gave her hand a squeeze and spoke in a husky voice as a smile tugged at his lips. "I want the whole world to know about us, Sara." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "But I also want to torture Warrick." An impish smirk flitted across his face.

Sara was still a little doubtful that they could pull of keeping Warrick in the dark. "And how long did you want to keep up this little charade?" Not that she planned on tackling Nick in the locker room, but Sara wasn't sure that anyone looking at her looking at him wouldn't tell immediately that she was in love with Nick.

"Long enough to make him wonder if the guy at the hotel just took his money, and long enough to make him think twice about messing with you and me." Nick had a mischievous glint in his eye.

Sara pursed her lips together to keep from smiling. "So until Ned and Carla's wedding then."

"Oh, yeah." Nick furrowed his brow momentarily. "I forgot they were going to stop by the lab to meet us for lunch when they got into town."

Sara leaned back in her seat with a satisfied smile on her face. "Warrick won't know what hit him."

"Sara Sidle, you are devious." Nick smirked at her.

"And you love me." She smiled even wider.

"Yes, I do." He grinned and squeezed her hand as the plane took off.

Several hours later they were collecting their bags and heading off to catch a taxi. Since Sara had left her car at Nick's house before they'd left for Cozumel, the taxi dropped them off there and it only took one glance from Nick for Sara to just follow him up the walk, her bags in tow with no intention of going home for the time being. For now they were both still on vacation and they were going to enjoy every minute of it, after they'd had something to eat.

It was a good thing that they'd decided to order some take out because as they sat there on the couch watching a Forensic Files marathon on the Discovery channel and devouring slices of pizza, the doorbell rang. Sara looked at Nick quizzically as he furrowed his brow. "Who do you think it is?"

Nick let out a soft chuckle and then leaned over and kissed her, smirking as he pulled away. "How much do you want to bet it's Warrick?"

Sara's eyes widened and then she snorted out a giggled. "He wouldn't."

"Oh, I'm sure he would." Nick countered, suddenly disappointed that the after dinner activities that he'd been looking forward to it seemed would have to wait.

"I'll kill him." Sara too had been looking forward to spending some quality time wrapped up in the sheets with Nick before they had to go back to work.

Nick chortled and lifted a hand as he stood up. "Let's just see who it is first. We don't need a crime scene in the middle of the living room."

Sara tried to restrain her irritation at being interrupted and took another bite of her pizza to try and appear as if they were just having a nice friendly meal as Nick walked over to the door.

Just as they suspected, Warrick Brown was standing on the other side of the door with a rather smug look on his face.


	26. Chapter 26

Warrick noted the tan on Nick's scruffy face and smirked. "So I guess it was a good vacation then."

"Yeah." Nick's smile spread across his face. "Sara and I are just grabbing something to eat; they don't feed you anything but peanuts on the damn planes any more."

At the mention of Sara's name, Warrick let out a chuckle. "You guys have a good time?" There was something in the tone of his voice that implied that he knew exactly what had transpired on their vacation.

"Great time." Nick played it cool as he let Warrick in and glanced over at Sara. "What was your favorite part, Sar?"

With an ace of her own up her sleeve, Sara smiled. "Meeting Ned."

Warrick looked a little surprised, but quickly recovered. "Ned?" The guy at the hotel didn't say anything about another guy in the picture.

"Of course Juan Carlos was pretty great too." Sara took another bite of her pizza and mumbled as she ate. "Want some pizza, Warrick? There's plenty."

"Juan Carlos." Warrick glanced at Nick with an expression that said he thought his friend was a complete idiot for taking a gorgeous woman on vacation with him and letting other guys hit on her.

"Yeah, we met him, what our first or second day?" Nick tried to remember exactly when they had met the quirky taxi driver.

"Second, we slept almost the entire first day." Sara recounted. "He took us out to San Gervasio where we met Ned."

"That's right." Nick smiled at the memory of Sara snuggling up against him in the backseat to get Juan Carlos to stop hitting on her.

"Uh, huh." Warrick wasn't sure what to make of the whole situation.

Sara smiled broadly at Warrick. "In fact you might get to meet Ned; he's coming to visit at the end of the week." Of course the fact that he was coming to Vegas to marry Carla was a convenient detail to leave out for the moment.

Nick arched his brows at Sara as if to congratulate her for pouring it on thick, she was doing such a convincing job that he was starting to feel a little jealous.

"Really?" Warrick looked a little perplexed. He had planned to come over and grill Nick about what had happened with Sara on their vacation, and maybe catch the two of them in a compromising position to prove his point, but the last thing he'd expected was to hear Sara gushing about some other guy.

"Did I mention that Ned's a doctor? A pediatrician." Sara smiled. She knew that Warrick was buying her story hook, line, and sinker.

"A doctor." Warrick gave Nick a meaningful stare; he was definitely going to have to smack Nick upside the head later. He had all but paved the way to Sara for him by making sure they'd have to share a hotel room and he still blew it.

"That came in pretty handy, what with you getting sick." Nick had a mischievous glint in his eye. "I seem to recall you thought he had a pretty good bedside manner." Nick was referring more to the fact that Ned had come through with protection rather than about his doctoring skills.

Sara smirked. "Yes, he did." While it was true that Ned had indeed had a wonderful bedside manner, Sara had been far more interested in the bedside manner Nick had provided.

It now occurred to Warrick that by making all the arrangements over the phone that he'd left himself wide open to getting scammed. And it had cost him a damn pretty penny to rent that room out from underneath them too. "Hey, well I'll have to hear more about it later. I just finished a double and thought I'd stop by and see how the trip went." He let out a yawn so he could leave gracefully.

"No problem. See you at shift." Nick headed towards the front door in a subtle attempt to get Warrick moving that way.

Warrick walked out of Nick's house with a rather perplexed expression on his face. His plans had certainly not worked out the way he had intended and now he was out some serious cash. It seemed that gambling, no matter in what form always came around to bite you in the ass.

Sara started to giggle as soon as Warrick left, noting the smile on Nick's face as he walked over and plopped himself on the couch next to her.

He grinned. "That was some kind of fast talking." His drawl was decidedly more pronounced.

Sara studied his face as she set her plate down on the coffee table. "Think he bought it?" She knew she'd done a commendable job judging by the look on Warrick's face as he left.

"_I_ almost bought it." Nick feigned a hurt expression and then winked at her.

"Ned _was_ kind of cute." Sara smirked.

With an impish smirk on his face, Nick launched himself at her and tackled her on the couch, pinning her underneath him as he began to tickle her. "He was what?"

"He was cute." Sara giggled as she tried to get a hold of his hands.

"Then what am I?" Nick knew that she was teasing him, and his tone reflected that.

Sara finally grabbed his hands and she smiled up at him as she answered him. "Sexy as hell."

Her face was slightly flushed and at that moment, with her pinned underneath him, all Nick wanted to do was kiss her senseless and that's exactly what he did. The remaining pizza and the Discovery Channel were forgotten for a long few minutes as they traded deep exploratory kisses.

When they finally did break apart, Nick whispered huskily. "You're so beautiful." His eyes drank in the features of her face; her kiss swollen lips, her deep soulful brown eyes, and just the way she looked at him. There was such trust and desire in her expression that Nick couldn't help but smile.

"You're not so bad yourself." Sara whispered back, reaching up to trail her fingers along his jaw line where the makings of a real beard were growing. She arched a brow at him enticingly. "You could keep this and I wouldn't complain, but since I haven't had you clean shaven yet that could be interesting too."

Nick chuckled, not particularly interested from moving from on top of her. "Just what did you have in mind?" He had plenty of ideas of what he'd like to do, he just wasn't sure they had enough time before they both had to be at work, especially if they wanted to get some sleep.

Sara pursed her lips together thoughtfully as she continued to run her fingertips through the stubble. "Well, I was thinking maybe a shower." She smiled. "A shave." Her eyes seemed to have mischief dancing in them. "And then bed."

Nick waggled his brows at her. "And exactly in what order did you want to do that in?" He grinned at her, giving serious thought to ducking his head and kissing her again.

"Mmn, any order is fine." Sara ran her fingers up Nick's cheek and slid her hand around to the back of his neck.

"How about bed?" He leaned down again and kissed her softly. "Then, when we get up I can shave." He kissed her a little longer this time. "And then we can shower." The smile on her face matched his own as he leaned down and kissed her again.

"I guess that might work." Sara didn't really care what order things happened in.

"Ok, bed it is." Nick kissed her again, sure that at some point they'd actually make it to the bed.


	27. Chapter 27

Sara's eyes fluttered open as she felt a pair of lips pressing against her cheek. A sleepy smile spread across her face as she felt Nick's fingers trailing up her arm. "Hey."

"Hey, yourself." He smiled as he whispered in the semi-darkness of his bedroom. "I have to get up for work, but you can go back to sleep if you want."

Sara feigned a sleepy pout as she reached out to touch his face. "What about that shower and your shave?" As tired as she was, she knew she'd be even more tired if she went back to sleep.

Nick chuckled softly. "We can save it for another time." He hadn't really paid attention to the time when he'd set his alarm and if he didn't just grab a quick shower and head out the door, he was going to be late. Something that he was sure both Catherine and Warrick would give him hell about.

Sara furrowed her brow. "What time is it?" She glanced over at the clock and let out a groan. "You're going to be late."

"Go back to sleep, you probably need it." Nick stroked her hair, his thumb brushing against her cheek as he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss.

Sara shook her head as he pulled away. "No, I should get up." She let out a yawn. "I need to take my bags back to my place and do a couple of things before work."

By the time Nick got out of the shower, Sara had gotten dressed and collected her things. They walked out the door together and after a few lingering kisses near her vehicle, Nick headed off to work and Sara headed home.

If Nick thought that he'd thrown Warrick off the trail, he should have thought twice about his assumption. As soon as he breezed into the briefing room to join both Catherine and Warrick, Warrick eyed him suspiciously. "Hey, sorry I'm late; I guess I didn't set my alarm quite right."

Catherine smirked. "A little too much vacation?" She let out a soft chuckle as she looked at him from across the table. "Actually, you're two minutes early."

Nick glanced up at the clock and pretended to get up from the table. "Well then maybe I'll grab a cup of coffee."

Catherine rolled her eyes at him and chuckled. "Just sit down. Looks like it's gonna be a busy shift."

In the end, Nick had to work with Warrick, something he usually wouldn't have minded, but almost as soon as they climbed into Nick's Denali, Warrick turned towards him. "You are the biggest idiot I've ever met."

Nick looked at him quizzically. "Thanks, Rick." His tone was decidedly sarcastic. "Care to elaborate?" Nick knew exactly where this was leading and he was going to try and string Warrick along as long as possible.

"Sara." Warrick looked at him incredulously.

"What about Sara?" At that moment, Nick could have sat in on the World Poker Tour and bluffed his way to a winning hand.

"What about Sara?" Warrick snorted. "You spend ten days alone with her and she comes back talking about some doctor named Ned. If you weren't going to make a move then, when the hell did you think was gonna be a good time?" It was no secret between them about how Nick had wanted to ask Sara out for quite a while. He just always claimed that it wasn't the right time, whatever that was.

"Hey, man, you weren't there." Nick retorted thinking that it was a damn good thing Warrick wasn't there because then he'd know that he was playing Warrick like a three dollar fiddle.

"You were." Warrick just shook his head in disgust. "I even had a strange idea that she might just be into you. I guess I was wrong." Neither one of them spoke for a moment and then Warrick glanced over. "So when is this Ned character showing up?"

Nick furrowed his brow as he tried to remember. "Uh, Thursday I think. He's stopping by the lab for lunch."

"And you're just gonna let him walk right in and steal Sara from you." Warrick shook his head again.

"I think you'd agree that Sara's not the kind of woman that you can steal. She either wants you or she doesn't." Nick replied a bit matter of factly, very aware of the fact of just how much Sara wanted him.

"So what does this doctor have that you don't?" He thought for sure that if just gave Nick and Sara a push that things would just happen. Then the thought occurred to him that he had better lay off a little if he didn't want Nick to get suspicious.

"Uh, he's a doctor." Nick shrugged, glancing at Warrick with a genuine smile. "He's not a bad guy, Rick. You'd like him."

"I just can't believe you." Warrick felt like smacking Nick. "You're losing your touch."

By the time they got back to the lab to start processing their evidence, Sara was just arriving and they ran into her in the locker room.

Nick tried hard not to stare at her, she had worn a shirt that he had always liked on her and with her skin nicely tanned the shirt looked even that much better. He grinned as she glanced up and flashed him and Warrick a gape toothed smile.

"Hey, guys." Sara really wanted to walk over and kiss Nick just to see the look on Warrick's face, but they had agreed to give it a few days to let him squirm.

"Sara." Warrick replied evenly, stowing his jacket in his locker.

"Sar." Nick drawled out her name and it sent shivers up her spine, and as she glanced at his hands momentarily, she felt her cheeks flush slightly.

Fortunately, Warrick wasn't paying attention. He mumbled something about looking for a cup of coffee and headed out of the locker room towards the break room.

Nick smirked at Sara and whispered conspiratorially when he was confident that Warrick was out of earshot. "He read me the riot act for not making a move on you in Cozumel."

"Hmm." Sara arched her brows suggestively. "I seem to recall you had quite a few moves."

Nick chuckled and stepped as close to her as he dared for the moment. "And the funny thing is I haven't lied to him. He just keeps filling in the blanks in his mind. The next thing you know, he's gonna think you're engaged to Ned."

Sara's eyes widened. "We can't string him along for much longer, he'll spread it all over the lab." She really did not want everyone getting the wrong idea when Ned showed up, especially when Carla would be with him. She wanted everyone to know that she was in love with Nick and he was in love with her.

"We won't." Nick reassured her as he stowed his jacket in his locker. "We'll just have to pick the right moment to let the cat out of the bag." He winked at her to emphasize his point.

A smile tugged at the corners of Sara's mouth. "And just how do you propose we do that?" She had a few ideas, several of which she was fairly certain would get them both suspended.

Nick couldn't resist and reached over, tucking a stubborn curl behind her ear. "We'll think of something." The temptation was too great and he quickly ducked his head and stole a kiss.

Sara unconsciously licked her lips and smiled. "He's going to find out a whole lot sooner if you keep that up." Her tone clearly implied that she really didn't care who found out or when and she quickly leaned up and kissed him back.

Neither one of them had noticed that Greg was standing in the doorway to the locker room until he cleared his throat. As Nick and Sara glanced in his direction he raised his brows and smiled inquisitively, having witnessed the kiss. "So I take it the vacation was eventful?"


	28. Chapter 28

"So you want me to keep this a secret." Greg had a smug expression on his face.

"Not forever, just for anther day or so." Sara explained softly.

"And I should do this because…" Greg wasn't so sure it wouldn't be more fun to let the entire lab know that he'd caught Nick and Sara exchanging a kiss, albeit a rather innocent one, but what information he chose to leave out could certainly be embellished in the mind of the listener.

Nick shot him a glare. "Look man, Warrick thinks he pulled one over on Sara and I and we're just trying to make him squirm for a while, to make him think twice about doing it again."

Greg looked amused. "Well he did pull one over on you two, and from what I can see, that's not an entirely bad thing, at least for you." He was disappointed on some level that Sara appeared to be taken.

"He just doesn't know that we caught him." Nick quirked a brow at him.

"Just a couple of days, we'll tell him before Ned and Carla get here." Sara added, glancing over at Nick and smiling.

"Carla?" Greg's interest was definitely piqued.

"Down boy." Nick chuckled. "She's marrying Ned, man, so you might want to back off a little."

Warrick chose that moment to saunter back into the locker room and only caught the tail end of the comment. His eyes were wide in shock. "Sara, you're engaged?" He shot Nick a glare and just shook his head.

Nick wasn't sure what to say; the one thing Sara didn't want to have happen was happening.

Greg decided to just play along for the time being. He reasoned that when Warrick found out the truth that the fireworks display around the lab would be well worth keeping his mouth shut for a while. He grinned and stepped over towards Sara and pulled her into a bear hug. "Congratulations, Sara."

She whispered in his ear. "You are a dead man." She pushed him away and cleared her throat as Warrick continued to stare at her.

"How well do you know this guy, Sara, you were gone, what ten days and you're getting married?" Warrick had his chest puffed out and the protective big brother role was in full swing.

"I'm gonna head to the briefing so one of us isn't late." Greg flashed Sara a cheesy grin and gestured towards the door with his thumb. "You want me to pass on the happy news?"

Sara shot him daggers and gritted her teeth.

"Now, Greg." Nick raised an eyebrow at the younger man that conveyed that if he thought he was going to get away with this he had another thing coming. "This is Sara's gig, not yours."

Greg just winked and walked out of the locker room.

"This could have been your gig, you idiot." Warrick didn't see any reason for pretense at the moment. He decided that if Nick couldn't tell Sara how he felt about her after spending ten days alone with her, that he was going to do it for him. Warrick wasn't going to stand by and let Sara marry some stranger until she knew that her coworker was in love with her.

Sara bit her lip to keep from giggling as her eyes widened at Warrick's outburst.

"Excuse me?" Nick looked at Warrick a bit incredulously.

Warrick narrowed his gaze at Nick. "You heard me. You spend ten days alone with Sara, who I know you're in love with, in a tropical paradise and she comes back engaged to another guy."

Sara had her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing, but Warrick thought she was in shock.

"Yeah, he's in love with you." Warrick explained as he looked over at Sara before shooting Nick another glare. "Of course he's too stupid to admit it." Warrick sounded exasperated. "I knew that you'd need a little push. I even went so far as to rent one of your rooms, at twice the cost mind you, so they'd tell you a pipe broke and flooded it, just so you two would have to share a hotel room." Warrick just shook his head in disbelief. "And she still came back engaged to another guy."

Nick had to bite his lip to keep from snorting out a laugh. He really didn't think that Warrick would crack so soon, but maybe his overactive imagination had pushed him over the edge, especially after what he thought he'd overheard.

Sara on the other hand could no longer stifle her giggle and as she pulled her hand away from her mouth she glanced over at Nick.

It took Warrick a moment before he began to sense that he obviously didn't have the whole story. He quirked an eyebrow at Nick and Sara who were both now having a hard time controlling their laughter. "What's going on?"

"Uh, I have to get to my briefing. I'll let Nick explain." Sara stepped towards the doorway, but was abruptly stopped as she felt Nick grab a hold of her hand.

"Oh, no, we're in this together, babe." Nick retorted with a smirk as he leaned down and kissed her quite soundly.

When Sara didn't immediately pull away and seemed to return the kiss with equal fervor as her arms drifted over Nick's shoulders, Warrick cleared his throat. "You two are messing with me, aren't you?" There was a part of him that was mad that he'd been had, but knowing that his money hadn't gone to waste made him chuckle.

"What's going on in here?" The sound of Gil Grissom's somewhat annoyed tone of voice caused Nick and Sara to step apart. He had a single brow raised and he peered at them over the rim of his glasses. "Sara, the briefing."

"I was just…" Sara couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she felt Nick's hand at the small of her back.

"I can see what you were doing." Grissom shot Nick a meaningful stare.

Warrick let out a chuckle.

"I can explain." Sara continued.

"The briefing." Grissom left it at that, not wanting to hear all about what appeared to be a budding romantic relationship between Nick and Sara. While he may not have been willing to take the risk to pursue her himself, he didn't want to torture himself with all of the details. If she was happy, that was enough. He turned and headed down the hallway towards the break room where Greg and Sophia were already waiting.

"So there's no Ned." Warrick probed with a smug expression.

"Oh, there's definitely a Ned." Nick countered with a smile. "And he really is coming out later this week."

Sara smirked. "To marry Carla."

"We didn't lie to you, man. We just didn't tell you all of the truth." Nick looked smug.

"I really have to go." Sara looked up at Nick with a smile and then gave him a quick kiss before turning towards Warrick. "Try not to kill him until we can explain."

Warrick just chuckled as Sara breezed out the locker room and then shot Nick a stare. "Spill it man."


	29. Chapter 29

_**Six weeks later:**_

Sara just had a look on her face that Nick couldn't quite identify. He had expected that they would do what they'd done on their other nights off since they'd gotten back from Cozumel. They'd order some sort of take-out for dinner, rent a movie and pay as little attention to it as possible as they ended up getting carried away on the couch. Sara hardly touched her food and Nick quirked an eyebrow at her as he considered that he knew she loved Panang Curry Tofu from the Thai restaurant around the corner from his house.

"Sara, trust me, there's no chicken in it this time." He had made the mistake of ordering the same dish but with chicken rather than tofu the last time for himself, and she'd taken a bite out of the carton before she'd realized she had his entrée and she'd felt sick the entire rest of the night.

"I know." Sara swallowed hard. Her nerves were on edge and as such, she started to ramble off statistics. "You know I read this article about the murder rate of pregnant and post-partum women by spouses or boyfriends and it accounts for sixty percent of all murders committed against women."

Nick knew that she'd had a tough case recently and he was silently cursing Grissom for letting her work it, especially since he knew about Sara's background. Not that Sara would have bowed out; she'd attack it like she did every other case she was given; that was one of the many things that he loved about her.

"These two reporters from the Washington Post began this story about women who were murdered, and that's how they discovered how high the rate was. They didn't set out to prove anything." Sara seemed to be upset; she was just pushing her food around the plate.

Nick had learned long before they'd started dating that it was better to let Sara get it out of her system, she'd make her point soon enough. "That's disturbing." He furrowed his brow as he popped a bite into his mouth.

"I know. I mean these men can sure sleep with a woman, but when faced with becoming a father, they just lose it." Sara was staring at him now with a lost expression on her face.

Nick reasoned that this case must have been harder than he first thought. "That's why we do what we do, Sara, to make sure they don't get away with it." His tone was gentle.

"I mean they think that protection should do just that, protect. But even condoms have a ten percent failure rate...and when you don't even use them..." Sara's words trailed off as she looked at him and sniffled.

Suddenly Nick realized this wasn't about her case, this was about something else entirely. "What's wrong, Sara?" He was glad they had the night off because if she was PMSing this bad, who knows what she'd be like at a crime scene.

"Why does anything have to be wrong?" She sniffled again.

"Because you seem upset." Nick was at a complete loss.

Sara sniffled again, doing her best to keep from getting up from the table to get a Kleenex. "What would you do if it was us?" She had a pleading expression on her face.

Nick didn't hesitate, he reached across the table and enveloped her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "Sara, honey, let's cross that bridge when we come to it." He wouldn't mind discussing marriage and children because he knew he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life, but he knew that with her family background that she was very apprehensive about ever having children.

Sara looked stricken and her voice was a strangled whisper. "Nick we _are_ at the bridge." She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, followed by a wave of nausea as she watched a myriad of expressions wash over his face. "Excuse me." Sara bolted from the table and just barely made it to the bathroom where she lost the few bites of her dinner that she had eaten.

It wasn't until she felt a hand rubbing her back that Sara realized Nick had followed her into the bathroom. She glanced up at him, her eyes searching his, hoping that he wouldn't reject her. Instead she found him concerned, but with a smile on his face.

"Are we having a baby?" Nick tried to contain his excitement for Sara's sake. The prospect of becoming a father was scary to be sure, but he couldn't think of anyone else he'd want as the mother of his children.

"Are you mad?" Sara sniffled again.

"No." Nick leaned over and kissed her forehead, stroking her hair. "I love you."

"But we didn't plan this." She was trying to give him an out if he wanted one, but she desperately hoped that he'd stay with her.

"We didn't plan to fall in love either and look how well that turned out." He was smiling, trying to reassure her. There were a few people that had not been as excited to learn about their relationship when they'd returned from Cozumel, but for the most part, everyone was almost as supportive as Warrick had been and they hadn't given anyone in authority at work to question their professionalism at work, because they'd agreed that work was work, and after that all bets were off.

Sara smiled a bit tentatively as they headed out to the living room and settled themselves on the couch, Nick's arms protectively surrounding her. "I'm not sure about being a parent, Nick." If there was anyone she was willing to give this a try with, it was him.

"Me either, but I'm pretty sure this is one of those things they don't give you a manual for. We sort of have to wing it." A thought occurred to him and he began to chuckle.

Sara looked at him oddly. "What?"

"You. This." He reached out and touched her abdomen. "We made our baby in Cozumel." He arched a brow to see if she remembered what she'd told him before they'd gone out to see San Gervasio.

"Yeah, I know. I counted back, and I'm pretty sure I know exactly when we made this baby." The fact that he hadn't freaked out was having a calming effect on Sara.

Nick arched his brows suggestively. "I'm pretty sure I know too, but I was referring to the island."

Sara's eyes widened as it hit her too and she snorted out a laugh. "The fertility goddess."

"They did say that women who were trying to get pregnant used to make pilgrimages there." Nick was clearly amused at the irony of the situation. Neither of them believed in the Mayan gods, but the shear coincidence of where this baby had been conceived wasn't lost on either one of them.

Sara leaned her head on Nick's shoulder. "I'm scared." Her brow was furrowed as she considered all the ways her life and her body were going to change.

"Hey, I'm here." He kissed her forehead again. "I'm not going anywhere." He turned to face her and a smile spread across his face. "You know, Ned and Carla said something that sort of stuck in my mind."

Sara looked at him curious. "What was that?"

He looked at her earnestly. "When you know something's right, why wait?"

* * *

"You do realize that your mother is going to kill us." Sara had a delightful smirk on her face as she lay in Nick's arms. 

"No, she won't." Nick had a smug expression on his face. "I'm her favorite and you're carrying her grandchild"

Sara giggled and scooted up to look in Nick's eyes. "What are we going to tell people at work?"

Nick chuckled softly. "That we just couldn't help ourselves." He smiled. "Seriously, Sara, I think other than Ecklie, everyone is going to be happy for us."

She let out a sigh and furrowed her brow. "When should we tell them about the baby?"

Nick smiled. "Why don't we let them get over the shock of us eloping first?"

_**The End**_

**Author's Note:** Let me thank all of you for taking the time to read this story. I hope you enjoyed the ride. And special thanks to the reviewers who had me giggling off my chair as I read your reviews…I think you know who you are. Oh, and Ashley, if you could just imagine that Warrick was shirtless through the entire story…would that be enough?


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